FEMINISM 


Mr.andMrs.JOHN  MARTIN 


FEMINISM 


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FEMINISM 

ITS  FALLACIES  AND  FOLLIES 


BY 

MR.  AND  MRS.  JOHN  MARTIN 


NEW  YORK 

DODD,  MEAD  AND  COMPANY 

1916 


Copyright,  1916 
By  DODD,  mead  AND  COMPANY,  INC. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 
BOOK  I 

FROM   THE   man's   POINT   OF  VIEW 
CHAPTER  PAGE 

I  Feminism   Versus   Humanism    ....  3 

II  Woman's  Physical  Handicaps  .     .     .     .  12 

III  The  Industrial  Subjugation  of  Woman  .  21 

IV  Humanist     Industrial     Programme     for 

Women 32 

V    Woman's  Work  before  Marriage  ...     39 
VI    The  Married  Woman  in   Industry    .     .  .  46 

VII    The  Mother  In  Industry 59 

VIII    Woman's  Work  in  the  Autumn  of  Life  .     77 

IX    Woman's  Economic  Value  in  the  Home  .     82 

X    Equal  Pay  for  Men  and  Women  ...     93 

XI    Feminism  and  Free  Love 112 

XII    The  Woman's  Movement  and  the  Baby 

Crop 122 

XIII    The  Fading  of  Maternal  Instinct   .     .   143 
XIV    Humanist  Education  for  Women  .     .     .162 
XV    Woman's     Deepest     Wrongs     and     the 

Humanist   Remedy 170 


503224 


CONTENTS 
BOOK  II 

FROM  THE  woman's   POINT  OF  VIEW 
CHAPTER  PAGE 

I    Feminism  and  the  Family 191 

II    The  Passing  of  the  Family 201 

III  Selling  the  Race 220 

IV  Two  Sorts  of  Heroines 229 

V    Nothing  to  Do  in  the  Home  ....  236 

VI    The  Proper  Education  of  Women  .     .     .  246 

VII  Eugenics    and    Woman 254 

VIII  The  Family  and  the  Servant  ....  263 
IX    The  Moral  Uses  of  Husbands  ....  299 

X     Some  Impressions  from  Ellen  Key  .     .     .  305 

XI    Votes  for  Women 312 

XII     Feminism  and  Her  Master 341 


BOOK  I 
FROM  THE  MAN'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

BY 

JOHN  MARTIN 


CHAPTER  I 

FEMINISM   VERSUS    HUMANISM 

Feminism  Is  a  movement  changing  from  year  to  year, 
not  a  code  finally  formulated.  Whatever  definition 
of  Feminism  one  person  offers,  another  person  may 
.  deny.  Even  Socialism,  with  its  fifty-seven  varieties, 
is  more  authoritatively  defined,  because  there  is  at 
least  a  Socialist  party  with  a  representative  conven- 
tion and  a  formally  adopted  platform.  Feminists 
are  not  In  one  party,  but  in  all  parties.  Their  plat- 
form Is  not  one  document,  but  many  documents ;  their 
prophetesses  are  not  elected,  but  self  appointed;  of 
their  leaders  each  has  her  own  followers,  but  none  is 
shepherd  to  all. 

Nevertheless  Feminism,  or,  as  many  feminists  pre- 
fer to  style  it,  "  The  Woman's  Movement,"  is  to- 
day a  powerful  ferment  In  society  —  It  may  be  a 
healthy  yeast  or  it  may  be  a  sour  corruption. 

The  philosophy  of  the  woman's  movement  must  be 
gathered  from  a  library  of  books,  from  a  cloud  of 
pamphlets,  and  from  a  host  of  speeches  and  conver- 
sations. By  this  tedious  process  we  have  found  that 
Feminism  Is  In  several  parts  and  can  be  comprehended 
and  examined  only  when  it  is  analysed.  In  general 
terms  It  has  been  defined  by  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman 

3 


.4.  .      .,  FEMINISM 

Catt,'  wKd  sp^^k's  with  authority  in  America  for  the 
organised  suffragists,  as: 

*'  The  world-wide  movement  of  revolt  against  all 
the  artificial  barriers  which  laws  and  customs  have  in- 
terposed between  women  and  human  freedom." 

*'  Freedom  "  and  "  Independence  "  are  the  key- 
words of  Feminism.  Liberty  for  the  individual 
woman,  the  throwing  down  of  all  barriers  to  her  self- 
development  or  self-reahsation,  the  opportunity  for 
each  woman  to  strike  out  on  her  own  path,  "  the  full 
and  free  emancipation  of  woman,"  the  revolt  against 
the  barriers  which  her  sex  and  social  custom  interpose 
between  her  and  human  freedom  —  these  are  the 
ideas  which  persistently  recur  in  feminist  speech  and 
writing.  "  It  is  a  question  of  being  free,  free  in  all 
human  ways,"  says  Mary  Johnston.^  "  The  chief 
purpose  of  feminists,"  writes  Mrs.  Ethel  Snowden, 
an  English  leader,  **  through  all  the  years  and  at  the 
present  time,  is  the  achievement  of  freedom  for 
womanhood  and  its  equal  opportunity  with  man- 
hood." ^  "  Women  are  striving  for  economic,  legal 
and  sexual  Independence,"  writes  Dr.  Elizabeth  S. 
Chesser.^ 

Without  Indulging  in  metaphysics  about  what  Is 
freedom,  we  can  accept  the  minimum  meaning  at- 
tached to  the  words  "  human  freedom  "  by  feminists 
as  "  whatever  freedom  Is  allowed  by  laws  and  cus- 

i"Hagar,"  p.  255. 

2  "The  Feminist  Movement,"  p.  13. 

*  "  Woman,  Marriage  and  Mptherhood,"  p.  257. 


FEMINISM  VERSUS  HUMANISM        5 

toms  to  man."  In  China  the  women  who  revolt 
against  the  bandaging  and  crippling  of  the  feet,  to 
which  men  are  not  subjected,  in  India  the  women  who 
refuse,  as  widows,  to  mount  the  funeral  pyre  which 
widowers  are  not  expected  to  mount,  in  Turkey  the 
ladies  who  experiment  in  walking  the  streets  unveiled 
like  men  —  these  would  all  be  Included  In  the  feminist 
world-wide  movement  of  revolt  by  Mrs.  Catt. 

But  while  such  generous  inclusion  of  foreign  move- 
ments, which  every  American  instinctively  approves, 
tends  to  recommend  the  home  brand  of  Feminism  to 
his  favour,  yet  It  does  not  clarify  his  judgment. 
Other  revolts  nearer  to  him  concern  him  more  closely. 
There  is  a  movement  of  revolt  in  great  cities  and 
smart  sets  against  the  barrier  of  custom  which  is  in- 
terposed between  woman  and  the  freedom  men  enjoy 
to  smoke  cigars  and  cigarettes;  a  revolt  against  the 
custom  which  requires  the  woman  and  not  the  man  to 
change  her  name  on  marriage;  which  requires  a 
chaperone  for  girls  and  young  women  where  no 
chaperone  protects  young  men.  Dr.  Mary  Walker 
led  a  revolt  against  the  custom  which  permits  men, 
but  not  women,  to  wear  trousers.  Such  revolts 
against  the  "  artificial  barriers  which  laws  and  cus- 
toms have  interposed  between  woman  and  human 
freedom  "  are  not  instinctively  approved  by  Ameri- 
cans, but  would  come  within  Mrs.  Catt's  definition. 

Historically  the  woman's  movement  in  America 
was  first  concerned  with  winning  for  woman  control 
over  her  own  property  without  relinquishing  her 


6  FEMINISM 

rights  In  her  husband's  property,  control  of  her  chil- 
dren without  sacrificing  any  of  the  father's  responsi- 
bility for  the  children,  opportunity  for  divorce  on 
equal  or  easier  terms  with  men,  and  an  education  like 
man's  in  college  and  university.  These  have  been 
conceded  by  male  legislatures  and  male  public  opinion 
in  most  of  the  States,  although  not  always  with  that 
advantage  to  women  and  to  society  which  feminist 
advocates  take  for  granted. 

At  the  same  time  women  have  trooped  into  factory, 
shop  and  store  and  dribbled  into  pulpit,  court  room 
and  hospital.  Paradoxically  enough,  while  medical 
schools,  law  schools  and  theological  seminaries  were 
entered  with  loud  huzzas  after  prolonged  bombard- 
ment by  a  few  hundreds  of  women,  the  factory,  ma- 
chine shop  and  store,  eagerly  thrown  open  by  thrifty 
\  proprietors  to  those  who  would  work  for  the  lowest 
wages,  were  occupied  by  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
women  without  agitation  or  tumult.  But  the  in- 
vasion being  accomplished,  it  became  an  integral  and 
dominant  part  of  the  woman's  movement.  It  found 
its  philosophers,  its  apologists,  its  glorlfiers.  Its  poet- 
esses. To-day  the  struggle  for  the  so-styled  "  eco- 
nomic independence  of  woman  "  is  an  accepted  part 
of  the  revolt  "  against  the  barriers  which  laws  and 
customs  have  Interposed  between  woman  and  human 
freedom."  Woman's  freedom  to  earn  the  living  for 
herself  and  her  children,  just  as  man  does.  Is  in- 
dubitably a  part  of  orthodox  Feminism. 

Along  with  these  has  gone  continuously  the  de- 


FEMINISM  VERSUS  HUMANISM        7 

mand  for  woman  suffrage.  Now  vociferous,  now 
gentle  voiced,  for  a  period  commanding  universal  at- 
tention, then  for  decades  hushed  and  neglected,  but 
never  entirely  stilled  —  wearied,  but  never  put  to 
sleep  —  the  appeal  has  been  made  from  the  earliest 
times  of  the  woman's  movement  for  the  equal  right 
with  men  to  the  franchise.  Unquestionably  "  votes 
for  women  "  is  a  part  of  Feminism,  though  its  rela- 
tive Importance  is  by  no  means  proportionate  to  the 
noise  It  makes. 

Later  has  arisen  a  revolt  against  the  laws  and  cus- 
toms interposed  between  woman  and  her  human  free- 
dom to  bear  a  child,  to  enjoy  the  blessings  of  ma- 
ternity under  the  conditions  she  prefers,  to  own  her 
own  body  either  within  or  without  marriage,  to  over- 
throw for  herself  the  limitations  which  custom  and 
law  set  upon  mating.  We  shall  show  that  the  fem- 
inist philosophy  logically  covers  much  of  this  sex  free- 
dom, and  that  the  political  and  economic  and  educa- 
tional parts  of  the  woman's  movement,  as  its  literary 
defenders  show,  inevitably  lead  up  to  the  movement 
for  sex  freedom. 

According  to  this  advanced  school  of  Feminism,  of 
which  Ellen  Key  is  the  chief  prophetess,  the  goal  of 
the  woman's  movement  Is  the  attainment  by  woman 
of  sex  freedom.  All  her  achievements  in  other  direc- 
tions have  been  merely  preparatory,  a  necessary  train- 
ing of  the  will  In  order  to  enable  her  to  rise  to 
this,  her  culminating  emancipation.  For  this  end 
It  has  been  necessary  for  her  to  assert  and  prove 


8  FEMINISM 

her  equality  to  man;  for  this  she  has  received 
higher  education;  for  this  she  has  steeled  herself 
in  industrial  struggle;  for  this  she  is  to  wield 
the  ballot.  All  these  things  are  for  their  own 
sake  not  worth  striving  for;  their  use  is  to  arm 
woman  with  sufficient  strength  to  win  her  supreme 
right.  Not  only  is  sex  freedom  the  final  goal  of  the 
woman's  movement,  but  without  it  the  achievements 
of  the  movement  hitherto  have  been  worse  than  use- 
less, for  taken  by  themselves  they  rather  degrade 
woman  than  otherwise.     As  Ellen  Key  declares : 

"  The  net  result  of  these  achievements  is  merely  to 
\  reduce  woman  to  a  competitive  struggle  with  man, 
with  no  compensating  advantage  " ;  and  "  Wherever 
the  conscious  striving  to  elevate  the  education  and  to 
secure  the  rights  of  woman  has  been  profound  it  has 
been  united  with  the  desire  to  reform  the  position  of 
woman  in  love  and  marriage."  * 

Another  advocate  exclaims:  "The  free  power 
of  Selection  in  Love.  Yes!  That  is  the  true  Fe- 
male Franchise.  It  must  be  regained  by  woman. 
Existing  marriage  is  a  pernicious  survival  of  the 
patriarchal  age."  ^  In  the  view  of  these  intrepid 
feminists  the  woman  who  stops  short  of  the  final 
goal  of  the  woman's  movement  is  not  so  much  pru- 
dent as  blind,  not  so  much  reasonable  as  cowardly, 
not  so  much  wise  as  incompetent. 

American  feminists  are  recognising  more  slowly 

*"Love  and  Marriage,"  pp.  6i  and  62. 
—        B  «  xhe  Truth  About  Woman,"  by  C.  Gasquoine  Hartley,  p.  256. 


FEMINISM  VERSUS  HUMANISM        9 

than  their  Swedish,  German  and  English  sisters  that 
the  extreme  feminists  are  but  extending  the  logical 
argument  from  the  suffragist  premises.  As  Kath- 
arine Anthony  confesses :  ^  "  The  extreme  feminists 
have  pushed  on  into  fields  of  controversy  which  have 
estranged  the  more  conservative  spirits  of  their  own 
ranks  but  which  have  nevertheless  been  the  logical 
outgrowth,  of  the  self-same  faith."  And,  "  So  com- 
pletely have  we,  the  political  column  of  the  woman 
movement,  accepted  our  specialty  that  people  are  just 
beginning  to  discover  that  Feminism  means  more 
than  suffragism;  that  the  ballot  for  the  ballot's  sake 
is  not  the  whole  meaning  of  the  suffrage  agitation; 
that  the  political  demands  of  women  are  inseparable 
from  the  social,  educational,  and  economic  demands 
of  the  whole  feminist  movement." 

Feminism,  or  the  woman's  movement,  to-day,  then 
IS  mainly  concerned  with  the  demand  for  ( i )  politi- 
cal duties  like  man's,  (2)  educational  and  industrial 
careers  like  man's,  and  (3)  sex  freedom.  In  each 
case,  as  with  respect  to  property  rights,  and  the  con- 
trol of  children,  no  objection  is  being  raised  by  fem- 
inists to  an  allowance  of  freedom  or  of  privilege  in 
excess  of  man's. 

In  contradistinction  to  Feminism  may  be  set  Hu- 
manism, a  term  employed  in  feminist  literature  to  de- 
note, vaguely,  the  belief  in  a  movement  toward  a 
^  nobler  civilisation  for  the  whole  race,  men,  women, 

^ "  Feminism  in  Germany  and  Scandinavia,"  by  Katharine  An- 
thony, pp.  10-11. 


10  FEMINISM 

and  children,  and  accepted  in  this  book  under  that 
definition^  Man  and  woman  can  alike  advance  only 
in  co-operation,  and  the  race  can  improve  only  on 
condition  that  man  and  woman,  both,  will  sacrifice 
their  own  comfort  and  ease  for  the  child.  But  Fem- 
inism, regarding  fixedly  the  woman,  her  freedom,  her 
self-development,  her  satisfaction,  would  sacrifice, 
sometimes  consciously,  sometimes  unwittingly,  the  all- 
important  child,  its  life,  its  development,  its  potential 
gifts. 

Feminism  is  individualist;  Humanism  is  social. 
Feminism  is  female  Anarchism ;  it  would  cut  woman 
loose  from  the  family,  the  only  well-rooted  social 
group,  to  roam  the  world,  self-sufficient,  self-con- 
tained, self-satisfied.  Humanism  would  cherish  the 
family  and  attack  the  poverty,  the  weakness,  the  vice 
which  undermine  the  family. 

As  the  key  word  of  Feminism  is  independence,  the 
key  word  of  Humanism  is  social  obligation.  Fem- 
inism is  centripetal:  driving  the  man,  the  woman, 
the  child  away  from  each  other.  Humanism  Is  cen- 
trifugal: drawing  the  man,  the  woman,  the  child 
closer  to  one  another. 

Feminism  decries  distinctions  of  sex  and  would 
abolish  them;  Humanism  glories  in  distinctions  of 
sex  and  would  develop  them.  Feminism  would  make 
women  more  like  men;  Humanism  would  make 
women  less  like  men.     Like  evolution.  Humanism 

7  Humanism  is  defined  by  the  Standard  Dictionary  as  "  a  system 
of  thought  in  which  the  human  element  or  interest  predominates." 


FEMINISM  VERSUS  HUMANISM      ii 

seeks  differentiation,  while  Feminism  seeks  similar- 
ity. Feminism  laments  what  it  sees  as  the  inferi- 
ority of  women;  Humanism  rejoices  in  what  it  sees 
as  the  superiority  of  women.  Feminism  would 
industrialise  women  in  order  to  produce  greater 
material  wealth;  Humanism  would  exempt  women 
from  competitive  industry  in  order  to  produce 
greater  human  beings. 


CHAPTER  II 
woman's  physical  handicaps 

Feminism  seeks  to  approximate  woman's  life  and 
work  to  man's  life  and  work.  Women,  it  teaches, 
should  be  educated  like  men;  they  should  do  the  same 
work  as  men  in  politics  —  voting,  legislating,  admin- 
istering; they  should  follow  industrial  careers  like 
men;  they  should  reduce  to  a  minimum  the  demands 
of  motherhood  and,  like  men,  subordinate  the  home 
to  their  *'  life's  work."  "  Feminism  can  be  defined 
philosophically,"  says  Mr.  W.  L.  George,  "  as  the 
levelling  of  the  sexes."  ^ 

Now,  If  it  be  admitted  that  women  are  in  body 
and  mind  different  from  men,  there  is  a  preliminary 
obstacle,  hard  to  evade,  to  the  working  out  of  this 
programme,  and  therefore  Feminism  is  concerned  to 
show  that  there  Is  little  difference  in  nature  between 
men  and  women.  Most  of  the  characteristics  that 
distinguish  women  from  men  are  acquired,  it  con- 
tends, through  the  conventional  training  and  environ- 
ment to  which  they  are  subjected  In  a  man-made 
world. 

It  Is  difficult  to  discover  any  characteristics  that 
Feminists  allow  are  feminine.  Though  the  existence 
of  those  fundamental  physiological  habits  of  body 

1 "  Woman  and  To-morrow,"  p.  8. 

12 


WOMAN'S  PHYSICAL  HANDICAPS     13 

which  handicap  women  cannot  be  denied,  even  they 
are  pooh-poohed,  minimised  and  Ignored.  "  I  find 
that  an  average  of  sixty  per  cent,  of  girls  enter  col- 
lege,'' says  Miss  M.  Carey  Thomas,  president  of  the 
Bryn  Mawr  College,  "  absolutely  and  in  every 
respect  well,  and  that  less  than  thirty  per  cent, 
make,  or  need  to  make,  any  periodic  difference  what- 
ever in  exercise  or  study  from  year's  end  to  year's 
end."  2 

In  the  same  spirit,  a  president  of  a  woman's  college 
in  England  tells  a  feminist  group  that  she  finds  young 
women  can  study  hard,  take  examinations,  and  keep 
up  with  all  their  work  by  exercising  a  little  strength 
of  will  when  they  have  headaches  and  pain.  It  is 
good  for  them,  she  thinks,  not  to  allow  trifling  bodily 
ailments  to  check  their  pursuit  of  knowledge.^ 

Scientific  and  medical  opinion  is  emphatically  in  op- 
position to  the  statements  of  feminist  heads  of  col- 
leges at  this  point.  It  recommends,  not  that  exercise 
and  study  be  pursued  without  regard  to  periodic 
variations  of  bodily  condition;  but  that  closer  atten- 
tion be  paid  to  the  effect  of  college  life  on  the  girl's 
bodily  functions.  A  medical  study  made  in  19 12, 
of  three  hundred  and  fourteen  girls  in  the  University 
of  Chicago,  *'  showed  that  32  per  cent,  changed  their 
type  of  menstruation  during  the  year  under  the  stress 
of  university  life.     The  physical  director  was  able  to 

2  Educational  Review,  January,  1908. 

3  See  Fabian  Tract,  No.  1 1,  "  Discussion  upon  the  Disabilities  of 
Mothers  as  Workers." 


V 


14  FEMINISM 

Improve  the  type  of  only  fourteen  of  these  girls."* 
Similar  testimony  is  given  about  women  in  business. 
Respecting  a  set  of  observations  made  by  Engelmann, 
it  Is  stated,  "  As  Is  to  be  expected,  great  suffering  dur- 
ing menstruation  is  found  in  the  business  woman, 
averaging  in  those  here  considered,  83  per  cent.;  but 
this  varies,  even  In  the  same  class  of  business,  with 
the  character  of  the  work.  The  girl  behind  the 
counter,  who  Is  on  her  feet  most  of  the  day,  with  but 
little  space  for  change  of  position,  shows  91  per  cent. ; 
those  who  sit,  bookkeepers  and  stenographers,  show 
82  per  cent.,  and  those  who  have  a  certain  freedom  of 
motion  —  floorwalkers  —  cash  girls  —  packers  — 
are  noted  with  only  78  per  cent."  ^ 

So  impressed  is  Dr.  G.  Stanley  Hall,  after  a  wide 
and  thorough  examination  of  medical  and  historical 
evidence,  concerning  the  Importance  of  the  lunar 
period  to  the  physical,  mental  and  emotional  life  of 
adolescents  that  he  surmises  "  the  time  may  come 
when  we  must  even  change  the  divisions  of  the  year 
for  women,  leaving  to  man  his  Sunday  holiday  each 
week  and  giving  to  her  the  same  number  of  Sabbaths 
per  year,  but  in  groups  of  four  successive  days  per 
month."  « 

Such  sympathetic  recognition  by  humanists  of  the 
handicap  which  nature  imposes  on  woman  for  man's 

*Dr.  Caroline  Hedger,  at  Conference  on  Infant  Mortality,  Lon- 
don, August,  1913. 
5  "  Man  and  Woman,"  by  Havelock  Ellis,  p.  297. 
8  "  Adolescence,"  by  G.  Stanley  Hall,  p.  511. 


WOMAN'S  PHYSICAL  HANDICAPS     15 

work,  and  of  the  unmistakable  way  In  which  nature 
marks  woman  for  her  own  more  important  racial 
work,  is  obnoxious  to  devout  feminists.  Miss 
Thomas  witnesses  that  she  felt  a  feeling  of  humilia- 
tion and  degradation  on  reading  Dr.  HalPs  quiet, 
scholarly  account  of  those  physiological  and  psychical 
differences  between  men  and  women  which  appear 
during  adolescence. 

Similarly,  the  disability  for  man's  work  which 
motherhood  Imposes  upon  women  is  dismissed  by 
Feminism  as  due  mainly  to  artificial  civilisation. 
Stories  of  savage  women  who  drop  aside  for  an  hour 
or  two  on  their  march  and  presently  catch  up  with 
the  caravan,  carrying  their  new-born  babe,  are  consol- 
ing to  those  who,  in  their  eagerness  to  minimise  the 
pangs  and  exhaustion  of  maternity,  overlook  the 
medical  testimony  that  the  increased  difficulty  of  birth 
is  due  In  large  part  to  the  increasing  size  of  the  baby's 
head  under  civilisation.  "  The  fact  remains  that 
more  and  more  women  require  surgical  aid,  if  they 
are  to  become  mothers.  Even  within  one  genera- 
tion, according  to  hospital  statistics,  the  numbers  re- 
quiring operative  aid  have  enormously  increased."  '^ 

Even  the  greater  muscular  strength  of  man  is  not 
accepted  by  Feminism  as  inherent  in  the  constitution 
of  things.  Jealous  that  Samsons  are  males.  Fem- 
inism points  with  pride  to  the  fact  that  "  Japanese 
women  will  coal  a  vessel  with  rapidity  unsurpassable 

'' "  Woman,  Marriage  and  Motherhood,"  b^  Dr.  E.  S.  Chesser, 
p.  90. 


1 6  FEMINISM 

by  man  and  the  pit-brow  women  of  the  Lancashire 
collieries  are  said  to  be  of  finer  physical  develop- 
ment than  any  other  class  of  women  workers."  ^ 
Such  Instances  of  the  performance,  under  semi-savage 
conditions,  of  strenuous,  brutallsing  physical  toll  by 
females  do  not  shock  the  feminist. 

In  further  denial  of  man's  natural  muscular  superi- 
ority, some  pleaders,  following  Lester  Ward,  take 
huge  dehght  In  the  Inferior  size  and  relative  unim- 
portance of  the  male  In  the  lowest  reaches  of  the  ani- 
mal kingdom,  away  down  below  the  vertebrates.  At 
the  beginnings  of  life.  It  appears  that  the  male  cell 
"  was  an  afterthought  of  nature  devised  for  the  ad- 
vantage of  having  a  second  sex,"  Indicating  that  "  the 
female  Is  of  more  Importance  than  the  male  from 
nature's  point  of  view."  ^  It  is  clearly,  then,  the 
height  of  impudence  for  the  male,  nowadays,  to  claim 
superiority. 

Husbands  among  rotifers,  cirrlpedes,  menatodes 
and  the  like  are  usually  pigmies,  attached  to  the  fe- 
male and  parasitic  upon  her.  Cases  have  been  found 
(and  are  seriously  quoted  In  authoritative  works  for 
their  significance  in  determining  the  relation  of 
woman  to  man)  In  which  seven  little  complemental 
males  were  attached  to  one  female  cirripede,  and 
lived  upon  her  juices,  being  tolerated  by  their  host 
exclusively  for  their  possible  use  In  fertilising  her. 

"  Here,  indeed,  is  a  knock-down  blow  to  the  theory 

8 "The  Truth  about  Woman,"  by  C.  G.  Hartley,  p.  284. 
8  "The  Truth  about  Woman,"  by  C.  G.  Hartley,  p.  284. 


WOMAN'S  PHYSICAL  HANDICAPS     17 

of  the  natural  superiority  of  the  male/'  exclaims  a 
woman  apologist  of  unusual  learning  and  poise. ^^ 

If  any  twentieth-century  man  can  stand  upright 
again  after  this  knock-down  blow,  Feminism  invites 
him  to  contemplate  the  exploits  of  the  female  spider 
and  the  praying  mantes,  the  conjugal  antics  of  which 
are  dellciously  described  by  Fabre.  The  female 
spider,  huge,  fat  and  ferocious,  slays  and  devours 
her  mate  Immediately  she  has  received  the  conjugal 
embrace ;  but  not  quite  with  the  same  circumstance  of 
ferocity  as  Is  displayed  by  the  praying  mantes.  That 
small  monster,  with  fiendish  fury,  devours  limb  by 
limb  and  piece  by  piece  the  body  of  her  spouse  as, 
driven  by  inexorable  Instinct,  though  shrinking  In  ter- 
ror, he  clasps  her  capacious  body  and  offers  himself  a 
martyr  to  the  continuance  of  his  species.  Literally, 
but  a  fleck  of  him  remains  when  his  fierce  partner  has 
finished  her  bridal  repast.  "  For  the  female  of  the 
species  is  more  deadly  than  the  male." 

These  instances  satisfy  some  feminist  advocates 
that  the  female  In  nature  may  be  more  robust,  more 
muscular,  than  the  male  and  dominate  him,  and  that 
muscular  weakness  in  womankind  is  not,  therefore, 
natural  and  unchangeable.  It  is  not  explained  how, 
if  the  female  started  with  this  advantage  and  has  lost 
It  In  the  aeons  of  development  from  spider  to  man, 
the  difficulty  can  now  be  overcome  of  retracing  that 
development  or  of  reversing  conditions. 

However,  return  to  spider  and  mantes  is  unneces- 

10  "  The  Truth  about  Woman,"  by  C.  G.  Hartley,  p.  52. 


i8  FEMINISM 

sary,  it  is  further  Implied,  because,  since  man  ap- 
peared on  earth,  he  has  passed  everywhere  through 
a  matriarchal  stage  of  government  during  which  "  the 
husband,  without  property  right,  with  no  —  or  very 
little  —  control  over  the  woman  and  none  over  her 
children,  occupying  the  position  of  a  more  or  less 
permanent  guest  in  her  hut  or  tent,"  woman  ruled 
the  roost.^^ 

Some  who  find  spider  and  mantes  unsatisfactory 
examples  for  their  imitation  and  doubtful  proofs  of 
any  natural  superiority  of  the  female  body  (ethics 
being  left  out  of  account) ,  yet  discern  In  that  period 
long  since  passed  by  cIvIHsed  man,  when  children 
were  known  by  the  name  of  their  mother,  property 
descended  through  her  and  tribal  rule  was  exercised 
by  her,  a  demonstration  that  woman  Is  naturally  the 
head  of  the  household,  and  that  mother  right  has 
only  been  superseded  by  father  right  through  the  use 
of  the  brute  force  of  brothers,  uncles  and  husbands 
at  a  time  when,  warfare  being  well-nigh  continuous, 
woman  (who.  It  Is  admitted,  Is  not  the  warrior  part- 
ner) was  fain  to  submit  for  the  sake  of  protection. 

That  period  of  woman's  rule  and  man's  subor- 
dination gives  great  joy  and  hope  to  those  who  com- 
plain that  woman  In  modern  society  Is  degraded  and 
subjugated.  "  It  is  a  period  whose  history  may  well 
give  pride  to  all  women,"  they  aver.^^ 

If  the  historical  existence  of  matriarchal  societies 

""The  Truth  about  Woman,"  by  C.  G.  Hartley,  p.  169. 
12  "The  Truth  about  Woman,"  p.  124. 


WOMAN'S  PHYSICAL  HANDICAPS     19 

in  which  women  held  social  sway  be  admitted  (though 
It  Is  denied  by  Lord  Avebury,  Letourneau,  Chamber- 
lain and  other  ethnologists),  yet  It  remains  to  be  ex- 
plained how  woman,  having  fatally  permitted  man  by 
brute  strength  to  dethrone  her  so  long  ago  that  the 
history  of  his  usurpation  can  only  be  surmised,  shall 
now  undo  that  blunder  and  overcome  the  handicap 
of  that  difference  of  bodily  strength  which  has  been 
transmitted  through  the  ages.  If  women  once  held 
sway  and  lost  It,  that  Is  more  damaging  to  their  claim 
than  if  they  had  never  possessed  It.  For,  had  they 
always  been  Inferior  in  position,  they  might  have  con- 
tended that  the  Inferiority  of  bodily  strength  was  due 
to  inferiority  of  position  and  would  change  with  a 
change  of  status.  But  a  monarch  overthrown  when 
she  had  the  advantage  of  position  can  hardly  re-es- 
tablish herself,  so  long  as  her  forces  are  weaker  than 
her  conquerors'. 

It  is  Indeed  vain  to  deny  the  obvious.     Woman  is 

.  not  idehtlcal  with  man,  either  in  body,  mind  or  feel- 
ings. As  Havelock  Ellis  testifies :  "  The  whole  or- 
ganism of  the  average  woman,  physical  and  psychic, 
Is  fundamentally  unlike  that  of  the  average  man. 
The  differences  may  be  often  of  a  slight  or  subtle 
character,  but  they  are  none  the  less  real  and  they 
extend  to  the  smallest  details  of  organic  constitu- 

\^  tlon."      "  A  man  Is  a  man  to  his  very  thumbs  and  a 
woman  is  a  woman  down  to  her  little  toes."  ^^ 
Women  flatter  men  unduly  when  they  deny  their 

13  "  Man  and  Woman,"  pp.  442. 


\ 


20  FEMINISM 

own  natures  and  prefer  masculinity.  As  Dr.  G.  Stan- 
ley Hall  says:  "The  pathos  about  the  leaders  of 
woman's  so-called  emancipation  is  that  they,  even 
more  than  those  they  would  persuade,  accept  man's 
estimate  of  their  state,  disapprove,  minimise  and  per- 
haps would  eliminate,  if  they  could,  the  very  best 
thing  in  their  nature.  In  so  doing,  it  is  the  feminists 
who  are  still  apishly  servile  to  man,  even  in  one  of  his 
greatest  mistakes,  who  have  done  woman  most 
wrong."  ^^ 

Woman,  then,  is  so  distinct  from  man,  in  body  and 
In  mind,  through  and  through,  right  down  to  the 
foundation  of  her  nature,  and  such  distinction  is  so 
precious  to  civilisation,  so  essential  to  that  variety 
which  is  the  mark  of  development  and  the  charm  of 
life  that  the  approximation  of  woman's  life  and  work 
to  man's  life  and  work  is  as  hopeless  as  it  would  be 
disastrous.  But,  though  it  can  never  be  accom- 
plished, it  may  be  partially  tried.  With  ruinous  re- 
sults.    Hence  the  necessity  to  expose  the  undertaking. 

Most  immediately  threatening  is  the  Industrial 
Subjugation  of  Woman,  which  will  next  be  consid- 
ered. 

1*  "  Adolescence,"  p.  511. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE   INDUSTRIAL   SUBJUGATION   OF   WOMAN 

Feminism  glories  in  the  employment  of  wom^en  and 
girls  in  factory,  shop,  store  and  office.  Any  work 
for  wages,  however  onerous,  it  extols  as  "  economic 
independence,"  an  indication  that  the  woman  is  free- 
ing herself  from  her  age-long  subjection  as  a  "  mere 
female  "  and  asserting  her  dignity  as  a  human  being. 
It  is  blind,  to  the  hardships  and  the  ills  of  industrial 
competition;  it  magnifies  the  pecuniary  benefits. 

In  their  laudation  of  money  earning  and  their 
exaltation  of  woman^s  out-family  work,  feminists 
glimpse  hazily  the  lot  of  the  millions  of  wage  earners 
and  gaze  fixedly,  until  hypnotised,  on  the  shining  in- 
stances of  highly  salaried  earners.  They  assume  to 
speak  for  womankind  and  wail  to  the  world  that  the 
whole  sex  longs  for  more  work.  "  We  women,  to- 
day, demand  all  labour  for  our  province,"  exclaims 
Olive  Schreiner,  with  the  fervour  of  italics,  over  and 
over  again.^ 

This  demand,  she  says,  is  in  pursuance  of  "  an  en- 
deavour on  the  part  of  a  section  of  the  race  to  save 
itself  from  inactivity  and  degeneration."  Women 
are  threatened  with  moral  death  by  *'  parasitism,"  by 
living  without  labour,  idly  sucking  sustenance  from 

1  See  "  Woman  and  Labor." 

21 


22  FEMINISM 

man.  And  this  dread  fate  ''  threatens  vast  masses  " 
of  women  and  "  may,  under  future  conditions, 
threaten  the  entire  body."  For,  while  "  female 
parasitism  In  the  past  resembled  gout  —  a  disease 
dangerous  only  to  the  overfed,  pampered  and  few, 
never  to  the  population  of  any  society  as  a  whole  " — 
in  the  next  fifty  years  "  it  is  Inevitable  that  not  merely 
a  class  but  the  whole  bodies  of  females  in  civilised 
society  must  sink  into  a  state  of  more  or  less  absolute 
dependence  on  their  sexual  functions  alone,"  unless 
indeed  women,  stirred  by  the  preaching  of  feminists, 
"  grasp  the  new  forms  of  labour  and  procure  all 
labour  for  their  province."  ^ 

Already  they  are  conquering  in  a  variety  of  indus- 
tries, and  Miss  M.  Carey  Thomas,  the  president  of 
Bryn  Mawr  College,  Is  "  sure  that  in  two  or  three 
generations  practically  all  women  will  either  support 
themselves  or  engage  in  some  form  of  civic  activ- 
ity." ^  Indeed,  woman  may  supersede  man  as  the 
provider,  since  it  is  possible,  as  Feminism  foresees, 
"  that  with  the  smaller  general  bulk  and  the  muscular 
fineness  and  the  preponderance  of  brain  and  nerv- 
ous system  in  net  bulk  over  the  fleshy  and  osseous 
parts  of  the  organism,  which  generally  character- 
ise the  female,  go  mental  qualities  which  will  pe- 
culiarly fit  her  for  the  labour  of  the  future."  So 
that,  magnificent  to  relate,  "  It  Is  quite  possible  that, 
taken  In  the  bulk  and  on  the  whole,  the  female  half 

2  "Woman  and  Labor,"  p.  115. 
8  Educational  Re'vienv,  June,  1908, 


INDUSTRIAL  SUBJUGATION  23 

of  humanity  may,  by  virtue  of  a  structural  adapta- 
tion, be  found  more  fitted  for  the  bulk  of  human 
labours  In  the  future."  ^  Then  let  man  beware. 
The  blight  of  parasitism  will  next  attack  him! 

In  one  of  the  gospel  books  of  Feminism,  Charlotte 
Perkins  Oilman  deplores  that  "  we  are  the  only 
animal  species  in  which  the  female  depends  on  the 
male  for  food,  the  only  animal  species  in  which  the 
sex  relation  Is  also  an  economic  relation;"^  which 
difference,  she  argues,  puts  woman  a  little  lower  than 
the  brutes,  for  by  this  dependence  on  husband  for 
support  "  woman  has  been  checked,  starved,  aborted 
in  human  growth,  and  the  swelling  forces  of  race 
development  have  been  driven  back  In  each  genera- 
tion to  work  In  her  through  sex  functions  alone."  ^ 

So  it  is  the  traditional  family,  in  which  the  father 
is  head  of  the  household,  and  supplies  the  livelihood, 
which  threatens  woman's  degradation.  Home- 
keeping  mothers  are  a  disgrace  to  their  sex,  it  ap- 
pears, and  a  menace  to  humanity,  so  subdued  to  their 
own  shame  that  they  are  unaware  of  it.  "  We  care- 
fully maintain  among  us  an  enormous  class  of  non- 
productive consumers  —  a  class  which  Is  half  the 
world  and  mother  of  the  other  half.  We  have  made 
for  ourselves  this  endless  array  of  horse-leech's 
daughters,  crying,  *  Give !     Give  I  '  '"^ 

*"  Woman    and   Labor,"    p.    ii6. 
5  "  Woman  and  Economics,"  p.  5. 
^Ibid.,  p.  75. 
"^  Ibid.,  p.  118. 


24  FEMINISM 

This  kind  of  doctrine  is  equally  rampant  in  Eng- 
land. The  London  Fabian  Woman's  Group,  all  ar- 
dent and  well-educated  feminists,  after  prolonged  con- 
sideration and  the  discussion  of  many  papers,  flatly 
endorse  the  wage  or  salary-earning  self-support  of 
all  women,  single  or  married,  widowed  or  divorced. 
**  Looking  forward  to  a  time  when  each  individual 
shall  be  economically  independent,"  they  work  to 
"  bring  women  into  line  with  men  in  the  advance  to- 
wards paid  work  for  all  " ;  and  believing  "  economic 
independence  to  be  the  one  remedy  for  various  social 
ills,"  they  are  endeavouring  to  establish  that  "  this 
solution  must  ultimately  be  accepted  by  all  those  who 
believe  in  the  equality  of  opportunity  for  all  citizens 
irrespective  of  sex."  Suffrage  without  wage-earn- 
ing to  them  is  vain.^ 

At  the  root  of  the  feminist  demand  for  "  all  la- 
bour for  woman's  province  "  is  the  complaint,  made 
in  anguish  and  bitterness,  that  man  excludes  woman 
from  lucrative  opportunities  in  the  business  world 
solely  on  account  of  her  sex.  Law  and  custom,  based 
on  man's  preferences,  she  laments,  shut  against  her 
the  avenues  into  life's  richest  careers.  Feminist 
pleas  imply  that  on  every  side  woman's  ambition  is 
restricted  by  a  statute  of  limitations. 

In  England,  it  is  true,  women  are  not  admitted  to 
the  bar  or  to  the  pulpit  or  to  the  highest  posts  in  the 
civil  service.  But  in  the  United  States  in  19  lo  there 
'  The  Neiv  Statesman,  Febfuary  21,  1914. 


INDUSTRIAL  SUBJUGATION  25 

were  558  lawyers  and  685  clergymen  who  are  women; 
in  Idaho,  every  school  superintendent  through  the 
State  is  a  woman,  and  in  other  States  some  of 
the  highest  educational  posts  are  filled  by  women. 
Women  buyers  for  department  stores  command 
high  salaries  and  women  novelists  and  dramatists 
find  their  sex  no  bar  with  publishers  and  man- 
agers. A  multi-millionaire  woman  financier  operates 
in  Wall  Street  and  a  woman  contractor  runs  a  con- 
siderable building  business  in  New  York  City.  In 
fact,  so  hospitable  are  law  and  custom  to  woman's 
Industrial  ambitions  that  feminists  *'  thrill  with  de- 
light '^  as  they  read  the  census  returns  which  display 
women's  activities  as  steam-fitters,  railroad  engineers, 
railroad  brakemen,  baggagemen  and  switchmen,  as 
blacksmiths,  machinists,  charcoal,  coke,  and  lime 
burners,  well-borers,  boiler-makers  and  ships  carpen- 
ters. *'  There  are  but  few  kinds  of  work  from  which 
the  female  sex  Is  absolutely  debarred  either  by  nature, 
law  or  custom,"  explains  the  census  man,  for  which 
opinion  one  enthusiastic  feminist  would  "build  a 
statue  to  him." 

Yet,  even  in  America,  including  those  States  where 
women  long  have  voted,  the  number  of  women  oc- 
cupying the  highest  industrial  and  governmental  posts 
Is  negligible.  Though  law  and  custom  may  not  ab- 
solutely bar  woman  from  any  branch  of  industry, 
Nature  bars  her  from  the  highest  success  In  Industry. 
In  Idaho,  and  In  most  suffrage  States,  there  Is  no 


26  FEMINISM 

woman  in  the  legislature  and  where,  as  in  Colorado, 
a  few  women  have  been  elected,  they  have  not  won 
eminence. 

At  the  risk  of  appearing  to  be  ungallant  it  must 
be  pointed  out  that,  though  brakemen  have  climbed 
to  the  railroad  president's  chair,  no  woman  stenog- 
rapher or  secretary  on  a  railroad  has  cHmbed  near 
that  dizzy  eminence.  Though  the  automobile  busi- 
ness, but  a  decade  old,  was  wide  open  to  women  to 
enter,  and  many  women  had  independent  fortunes 
which  they  might  have  risked  for  their  "  self-real- 
isation "  in  a  new  field  where  nobody  could  say  a 
woman  "  Nay,"  yet  no  woman's  name  is  connected 
with  a  popular  machine.  Though  rich  women  ac- 
tresses are  many,  women  theatre  owners  and  man- 
agers are  few.  Women  write  successful  novels  and 
plays;  but  men  win  the  fortunes  by  publishing  and 
producing  them.  Women  become  buyers  in  de- 
partment stores;  but  men  continue  to  own  and  con- 
trol the  stores.  Women  doctors  are  not  scarce ;  but 
the  eminent  surgeons  are  all  men  and  the  most  lucra- 
tive physicians'  practices  are  men's.  Women  may 
enter  the  Church,  but  the  metropolitan  pulpits  of 
distinction  are  all  filled  by  men.  Women  lawyers 
practise  in  every  large  city,  but  the  leaders  of  the 
bar  are  all  men  and  no  woman  has  dazzled  the  na- 
tion by  her  brilliancy  in  any  cause  celehre. 

Neither  law  nor  custom  prevents  any  woman  from 
making  a  fortune  in  real  estate.  A  broker  will  buy 
or  sell  houses  and  lots  as  eagerly  for  a  woman  as  for 


INDUSTRIAL  SUBJUGATION  27 

a  man.  Yet,  where  Is  the  bold  and  successful  woman 
real  estate  operator?  Cotton  spinners  and  woollen 
weavers  are  in  a  majority  women.  No  law  precludes 
a  woman  from  starting  a  small  cotton  or  woollen 
mill,  engaging  other  women  to  operate  the  machinery, 
establishing  her  own  credit  by  skilful  management 
and  gradually  enlarging  her  mill  until  she  stands 
among  the  giants.  But  where  have  women  thus  mas- 
tered the  difficulties  which  even  negro  men,  against 
greater  external  odds,  have  conquered? 

Woman  is  free  to  win  riches  and  distinction  as  a 
mining  prospector.  The  mountain  solitudes  and  lone 
wildernesses  of  the  West,  the  icy  sands  and  stern 
wastes  of  Alaska,  are  open  to  her  to  roam.  She  may 
shoulder  a  pack  or  load  a  burro  and,  like  adventurous 
man,  roam  silent  and  lonesome  to  uncover  some  vein 
of  gold  or  silver  or  copper.  Why  has  woman  never 
discovered  a  Calumet  or  a  Homestake  mine  and 
leaped  into  national  prominence  ?  Not  on  account  of 
legal  barriers. 

Multitudinous  women  are  boarding-house  keepers, 
but  the  palatial  hotels  that  adorn  our  cities  are  man- 
aged by  men.  Even  hotels  for  women  have  men  in 
the  top  positions.  The  United  States  Patent  Office 
will  register  a  patent  without  asking  the  sex  of  the 
inventor  and  no  legislature  nor  man-made  prejudice 
forbids  a  woman  from  contriving  new  devices  to 
serve  mankind.  She  may  rack  her  brains  and  spend 
her  substance  till  she  perfects  the  process  which  in 
imagination  she  foresaw  and  no  law  or  public  opinion 


28  FEMINISM 

will  try  to  thwart  her.  But  where  Is  the  feminine 
Edison  or  Westinghouse  or  MacCormack  or  Singer? 
Not  that  man  or  statute  forbade  her  taking  pre- 
cedence. Here  was  labour  she  had  not  to  demand 
for  her  province.  It  was  free  to  any  man  or  woman. 
The  laws  of  mechanics  are  sexless.  Why  has  she 
failed?     Not  through  man-made  restrictions. 

Let  it  be  conceded  that  the  law  blocks  the  ambi- 
tion of  a  woman  to  be  President  of  the  United  States, 
a  member  of  the  Cabinet  or  the  Governor  of  a  State. 
But,  even  if  these  conspicuous  posts  were  open  to 
them,  of  what  avail  would  that  be  to  their  ambitions, 
when  they  have  not  produced  a  legislator  of  com- 
manding ability  and  power  as  yet  in  any  State  where 
legislative  halls  are  theirs  to  enter?  Governorships 
and  cabinets  and  Presidencies  must  be  confined  to  per- 
sons already  eminent  in  professional,  administrative 
or  business  life.  Under  the  Homestead  Act,  Uncle 
Sam  will  give  a  woman  a  free  farm  on  exactly  the 
same  terms  as  a  man.  But  has  any  woman  so  dis- 
tinguished herself  as  a  farmer  and  a  leader  of  farm- 
ers that  she  could  be  considered  for  Secretary  of  Ag- 
riculture ? 

For  every  place  of  power  from  which  women  are 
excluded  there  are  a  thousand  to  which  they  may  as- 
pire. When  they  have  won  an  appreciable  fraction 
of  those  already  open,  it  will  be  credible  that  they 
would  qualify  for  the  handful  that  are  closed  and 
that  their  legal  exclusion  is  a  grievous  wrong. 

Not  statute  law  but  natural  law  bars  women  from 


INDUSTRIAL  SUBJUGATION  29 

eminence  In  Industrial  life.  And  nature  will  not  be 
gainsaid.  For  her  own  purposes,  she  has  endowed 
the  male  with  muscular  strength,  with  pugnacity  and 
adventurous  spirit,  with  conquering  will  and  with 
vaulting  ambition.  She  does  not  handicap  him  for 
commercial  contest  by  a  periodic  drain  upon  his 
strength.  He  can  fight  with  competitors  day  by  day, 
year  in  and  year  out,  without  respite;  he  can  plan 
long  campaigns  and  follow  them  to  the  fatiguing  and 
distant  end  without  exhaustion.  No  baby  drains  his 
vitality  or  paralyses  his  roaming  spirit.  The  family 
responsibilities,  which  are  inescapable  if  the  race  is 
to  endure,  exert  opposing  Influences  on  the  man  and 
the  woman  for  success  In  commerce  and  Industry. 
They  debilitate  her,  they  Invigorate  him.  They  pull 
her  back  into  the  home,  they  thrust  him  out  into 
the  world.  They  bid  her  be  reposeful,  they  bid  him 
be  adventurous.  His  fatherhood  but  stimulates  his 
energies  and  adds  courage  to  his  enterprises.  While 
the  woman  Is  enduring  the  pangs  that  have  compelled 
her  withdrawal,  perchance  at  a  critical  moment,  from 
her  outside  undertaking,  he  is  braced  for  her  sake  to 
more  strenuous  effort.  While  the  infant,  to  feed  its 
own  life,  is  sucking  the  mother's  strength.  It  is  add- 
ing, by  its  helpless  appeal,  fresh  strength  to  the 
father's  determination. 

Few  occupations  offer  chances  either  to  men  or  to 
women  for  winning  national  distinction  or  consider- 
able fortune.  In  the  employments  which  engage  the 
mass  of  workers  at  weekly  wages,  woman's  competi- 


30  FEMINISM 

tion  with  man  in  office,  store  and  factory  has  meant 
for  woman  the  occupation  of  the  lowest  places  at  the 
^  meanest  wages.  Wherever  skill,  experience,  brains 
and  leadership  yield  large  incomes,  there  she  is  in  a 
trifling  minority;  wherever  weakness,  unskilfulness 
1  and  ignorance  are  worst  exploited,  there  she  is  in 
overwhelming  majority.  In  the  sweated  trades, 
which  starve  the  workers  for  an  inhuman  length  of 
workday,  woman,  not  man,  is  the  chief  victim.  Only 
her  children  endure  like  privation  and  fatigue. 
Everywhere  the  women  work  for  less  remuneration 
than  men  in  similar  callings  and  hold  only  the  more 
monotonous  and  less  responsible  posts. 

"  Those  who  enter  gainful  employments  as  girls  of 
from  fourteen  to  eighteen,"  writes  Prof.  Henry 
Seager,  president  of  the  American  Association  for 
Labour  Legislation,  ''  may  marry  before  they  reach 
the  age  of  twenty-five.  With  this,  possibility  before 
them,  they  have  less  incentive  than  boys  to  learn 
trades.  The  consequence  of  these  two  facts,  rein- 
forced by  the  inferior  strength  of  women,  is  that  they 
are  able  to  command  wages  which  average  about 
one-half  those  that  are  paid  to  men.  This  means 
for  most  girls  and  women  who  have  to  be  self-sup- 
porting a  heartbreaking  and  health-destroying  strug- 
,  gle.  Underpay  and  the  correlative  overwork  are  the 
common  lot."  ^ 

Reformers    and    philanthropists    are    struggling 

« Introduction  to  "  Women  in  the  Bookbinding  Trade,"  by  Mary 
Van  Kleeck. 


INDUSTRIAL  SUBJUGATION         31 

heroically  to  ameliorate  that  "  heartbreaking  and 
health-destroying  struggle/'  due  to  the  circumstance 
that  women  can  "  command  wages  which  average 
one-half  those  that  are  paid  to  men."  Feminists 
have  an  easy  road,  a  short  cut,  to  the  cure.  Simply 
enact,  they  say,  that  women  shall  be  paid  the  same 
as  men  and  all  will  be  well.  Alas !  In  our  complex 
industrial  organisation,  where  each  employer  is  striv- 
ing to  cut  down  costs  to  save  his  own  economic  life, 
and  where  women  are  employed  mainly  because  they 
will  accept  lower  wages  and  worse  conditions  than 
men,  no  royal  remedy  can  be  applied. 


CHAPTER  IV 

HUMANIST   INDUSTRIAL   PROGRAMME   FOR 
WOMEN 

Let  us  outline  a  humanist  programme  for  women 
in  Industry,  a  programme  consistent  with  her  own 
natural  and  happiest  development  and  with  national 
and  racial  welfare.  Such  a  programme  must  take 
cognisance  of 

1.  The  Industrial  conditions  which  are  inimical  to 
all  girls  and  women,  and 

2.  The  special  conditions  applicable  to  women  at 
different  stages  of  life,  under  which  they  may  bene- 
ficially be  wage  earners. 

I.  The  fundamental  fact  which  must  control  the 
humanist  determination  of  woman's  place  In  Industry 
is  that  nearly  every  woman  is  a  potential  mother. 
Even  those  women  who  are  unhappily  sterile  must  be 
considered  through  most  of  life  as  potential  mothers, 
for  only  prolonged  experience  can  prove  their  ste- 
rility. This  potential  motherhood  is  woman's  prime 
social  value,  of  higher  worth  to  her  and  to  the  nation 
than  any  quantity  of  cotton  she  can  spin  or  ledgers 
she  can  balance  or  ribbons  she  can  sell  across  the 
counter.  To  the  maintenance  of  her  power  for 
healthy,  happy  motherhood,  every  other  factor  in  her 

32 


INDUSTRIAL  PROGRAMME  33 

life  must  be  subordinate.  Law  and  custom  should 
distinguish,  with  eternal  vigilance,  in  matters  indus- 
trial, between  man's  place  and  woman's  place. 
Woman's  prime  difference  from  man,  instead  of  be- 
ing Ignored,  as  feminists  demand,  should  be  more 
and  more  watchfully  considered. 

"  The  heartbreaking  and  health-destroying  strug- 
gle," which  Professor  Seager  testifies,  Is  the  lot  of 
**  most  girls  and  women  who  have  to  be  self-support- 
ing," unavoidably  involves  damage  to  their  powers 
of  maternity.  A  man  may  be  terribly  overworked 
without  affecting  his  power  for  paternity.  He  may 
toil  for  twenty-three  hours  and  yet  become  the  father 
of  a  healthy  child  In  the  twenty-fourth  hour.  He 
may  stand  the  livelong  day  at  a  machine  and  subsist 
on  black  bread  and  water  and  still  beget  vigorous 
babies. 

But  a  woman  who  similarly  stands  all  the  long  day 

\  before   an  unwearying  machine  cannot  bring  forth 

healthy  offspring.  '  She  has  sold  something  which  her 

wages  have  not  and  never  could  pay  for  —  the  life 

and  vigour  of  the  next  generation. 

Employments  not  so  mechanical  but  yet  exhausting 
have  their  proportionate  effects  upon  the  woman's 
highest  function.  Appallingly  common  are  the  cases 
of  girls  with  tense  nervous  organisations  and  delicate 
brains  whose  latent  maternity  has  been  rendered  a 
torture  by  the  exhaustion  following  on  their  conscien- 
tious obedience  to  the  demands  of  school  and  college, 
of  social  work  or  society  life. 


34  FEMINISM 

No  industry  Is  suitable  for  any  woman  nor  should 
be  open  to  her  which  overstrains  her  female  organs, 
drains  the  vitality  which  she  will  need  at  her  supreme 
moment  or  so  denatures  her  as  to  make  motherhood 
distasteful. 

''  Every  employment  open  to  women,"  is  the  motto 
of  Feminism.  "  No  employment  open  to  women  un- 
less proven  noninjurious  "  is  the  motto  of  Humanism. 

Already,  a  hesitating  start  has  been  made  in  fixing 
the  humanist  conditions  under  which  an  industry  shall 
be  closed  to  women.  Women  are  forbidden  by  law 
in  civilised  States  to  work  underground  in  the  dark 
and  dirt  of  mines.  They  are  usually  excluded  also 
from  the  poisonous  dangers  of  white  lead  works.  In 
America  they  are  forbidden  to  incur  the  moral  dan- 
gers of  service  behind  a  saloon  bar.  In  six  States, 
Pennsylvania,  Indiana,  Massachusetts,  New  York, 
Oregon,  and  Nebraska,  though  the  law  has  not  yet 
run  the  gauntlet  of  the  courts,  they  are  not  permitted 
to  work  in  factories  or  workshops  by  night;  in  a  num- 
ber of  States  woman's  maximum  hours  of  labour  are 
legally  less  than  man's  maximum  hours.  Her  consti- 
tutional right  to  contract  for  the  sale  of  her  labour 
has  been  limited,  with  the  approval  of  the  Supreme 
Courts  of  various  States  and  of  the  United  States,  as 
man's  right  cannot  be  constitutionally  limited,  under 
the  exercise  of  a  police  power  which  takes  cognisance 
of  the  basic  fact  that,  as  the  Federal  Supreme  Court 
said,    "  Woman's  physical  structure   and  the  per- 


INDUSTRIAL  PROGRAMME  35 

formance  of  maternal  functions  place  her  at  a  disad- 
vantage In  the  struggle  for  subsistence." 

Even  these  tentative  restrictions  are  condemned 
by  the  straltest  sect  of  the  feminists,  who  are  pre- 
pared to  face  unflinchingly  the  sufferings  of  their 
sisters  caused  by  a  rigorously  logical  application  of 
the  doctrine  of  equal  treatment  for  men  and  women. 
The  Equality  Alliance  of  New  York  City,  whose 
membership  Includes  teachers,  editors,  professors  and 
writers  of  Influence,  proposed  to  offer  an  amendment 
of  the  State  Constitution  which  should  make  it  Im- 
possible to  deny  by  legislation  "  any  civil  or  legal 
right  to  any  person  on  account  of  sex."  They  would 
even  thus  prevent,  if  possible,  the  enforcement  of  the 
humane  law  which  forbids  the  employment  of  a 
woman  in  factory,  store  or  shop  for  a  few  weeks  be- 
fore or  after  a  baby  Is  born  to  her,  since  it  is  by  na- 
ture Impossible  to  make  that  law  applicable  to  man. 
In  like  spirit  some  women's  organisations  in  Lon- 
don, headed  by  eminent  ladles,  actively  opposed  the 
closing  of  the  saloons  against  women  up  to  eleven 
A.M.  during  the  war,  a  step  taken  to  check  the  in- 
creasing drunkenness  among  women.  They  argued 
that  women  should  not  be  denied  any  opportunity  to 
get  drunk  which  men  enjoyed. 

On  the  other  hand,  pioneer  humanists  have  pro- 
posed far-reaching  extensions  of  this  sex  discrimi- 
nation in  favour  of  womankind.  A  section  of  the 
National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Corrections 


26  FEMINISM 

has  approved  the  legal  prohibition  to  women  of 
work  which  requires  continuous  standing.  Settle- 
ment leaders  have  declared  that  work  as  store  clerks 
is  specially  unsuitable  to  girls  and  women.^ 

If  only  these  two  proposals  were  adopted,  what 
an  exodus  of  women  from  the  Land  of  Bondage 
would  commence !  In  the  United  States  nearly  two 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  saleswomen  alone  would 
be  liberated  and  from  every  steam  laundry,  cotton 
mill,  woollen  mill  and  silk  mill,  pale-faced  women 
would  emerge  into  the  sunshine. 

Only  scientific  and  prolonged  enquiry  can  deter- 
mine which  employments  can  be  undertaken  by 
women  without  deranging  their  peculiar  and  racially 
essential  powers  or  the  limits  within  which  the  em- 
ployments open  to  them  are  safe  for  them  and  for 
posterity. 

From  all  poisonous  occupations  they  should  evi- 
dently be  excluded,  for  women  are  peculiarly  sus- 
ceptible to  industrial  poison.  To  expose  them  to  the 
fumes  of  lead,  arsenic  or  phosphorus  is  more  mur- 
derous than  to  expose  their  brothers  and  husbands. 

From  some  of  the  most  dangerous  employments 
—  caisson  sinking  for  deep  foundations  in  which 
work  under  compressed  air  causes  a  painful  disease 
called  the  *'  bends,"  structural  iron  working  on 
bridges  and  skyscrapers,  as  brakemen  on  railroads, 
rollers  in  steel  mills  and  labourers  around  smelting 
furnaces  —  women  are  already  protected  by  custom 

iSee  "Young  Working  Girls,"  edited  by  Woods  and  Kennedy. 


INDUSTRIAL  PROGRAMME  37 

and  by  muscular  weakness;  for  the  bizarre  and 
startling  instances,  discovered  by  the  census,  of  odd 
women  engaged  in  such  virile  occupations  are  only 
negligible  exceptions. 

How  unsafe  it  is  to  assume  the  suitability  of  the 
most  alluring  and  seemingly  light  and  cleanly  work 
to  woman's  organism  is  indicated  by  the  report  of 
the  Canadian  Royal  Commission  that  in  the  tele- 
phone service  "  the  breaking  point  of  the  operator's 
health  is  not  far  from  the  breaking  point  of  effi- 
cient work."  When  the  breaking  point  of  the  fe- 
male operator's  health  is  approached,  her  potential- 
>  jty  for  motherhood,  the  gift  which  raises  her  in  social 
^  value  above  man,  is  in  imminent  danger,  and  so- 
ciety must  intervene  for  the  sake  of  its  own  perma- 
nence. 

Hitherto,  the  rule  has  been,  in  blind  stupidity, 
to  permit  girls  and  women  to  be  lured  into  any  oc- 
cupation where  their  labour  could  be  utilised  and, 
later,  when  the  evil  effects  were  too  conspicuous  to 
be  ignored,  timidly  to  curtail  the  damaging  condi- 
tions. Humanism  would  make  a  survey  of  all  in- 
dustries with  respect  to  their  influence  on  women 
workers  and  permit  no  industry,  either  new  or 
old,  to  engage  female  workers  unless  licenced  by  a 
medical  and  scientific  board  as  "  Non-deleterious." 

Progressive  States,  in  order  to  conserve  the  work- 
ers' general  health,  require  a  statutory  minimum 
of  light  and  air  and  ventilation  and  sanitary  con- 
veniences  in  work   places   where   women   are   em- 


38  FEMINISM 

ployed.  But  these  requirements  are  vain  when  the 
whole  working  process  undermines  their  powers. 
The  thorough  application  of  the  humanist  prin- 
ciple that  the  woman's  vigour  and  maternity  shall 
not  be  sacrificed  necessitates  the  barring  of  all 
conditions  which  mihtate  against  the  potential  moth- 
er's life.  "  Take  women  and  children  out  of  the 
factories  " —  the  programme  announced  by  Samuel 
Gompers,  President  of  the  American  Federation  of 
Labour,  at  its  Annual  Convention  in  19 15  — is  ac- 
ceptable to  Humanism. 

Though  there  be  found  occupations  in  which 
women  may  engage  without  injury  to  their  maternal 
powers,  it  does  not  follow  that  a  woman  with  so- 
cial safety  and  to  her  own  ultimate  advantage  can 
pursue  them  all  through  life. 

Woman's  working  Hfe  is  naturally  divided,  as 
man's  is  not,  into  three  stages:  First,  the  period 
before  marriage  when,  her  formal  education  being 
finished  as  far  as  her  parents'  means  will  allow,  she 
is  waiting  for  her  romance  and  womanly  realisation 
and  has  a  few  years  for  money-earning  work. 

Second,  her  married  life,  when,  normally,  for  her 
own  best  development  and  for  society's  preservation, 
she  will  bear  and  rear  a  family,  and 

Third,  her  declining  years,  after  her  physiological 
climacteric  when,  her  children  matured  and  leaving 
the  home  she  made  for  them,  she  still  has  vigour  and 
capacity  that  may  be  utilised  for  the  social  good. 
These  we  will  consider  in  order. 


CHAPTER  V 
woman's  work  before  marriage 

The  first  period  in  woman's  working  life  is  the 
shortest.  Its  length  varies  according  to  social 
grades.  The  wage-earning  working  girl  leaves 
school  between  fourteen  and  eighteen  (usually  by 
sixteen)  and  hopes  to  marry  before  she  is  twenty- 
five.  Physiologically,  socially  and  morally  it  is  ad- 
vantageous if  she  marry  by  twenty-three.  The  col- 
lege woman  graduates  at  twenty-two  to  twenty-five, 
but  she  marries  several  years  later  than  her  less  priv- 
ileged sister.  Though  entirely  her  misfortune,  that 
is  not  entirely  her  own  fault,  since  the  men  in  the 
social  grades  from  which  her  mate  naturally  comes 
delay  marriage  until  their  prolonged  business  prepa- 
ration and  novitiate  are  complete. 

For  all  grades  of  women,  then,  there  may  be  a 
period  of  six  to  nine  years  between  finishing  school 
and  starting  a  home.  What  shall  they  do  with  it? 
Idle  philandering  is  not  possible  for  the  working 
woman  nor  desirable  for  the  college  woman.  In  an- 
ticipation of  their  coming  high  duties  the  best  occu- 
pation for  them  would  be  connected  with  children 
and  homemaking.  A  mechanic  who  expected  to  be 
a  carpenter  for  the  twenty  years  of  his  prime  would 
not  try  stenography  nor  selling  ribbons  for  five  or 

39 


40  FEMINISM 

six  years.  A  college  man  who  purposed  being  an 
engineer  would  not  put  in  five  or  six  years  in  a  law 
office.  But  women  who  anticipate  being  mothers 
and  homemakers  during  their  prime  are  urged  by 
Feminism  to  practise  cotton  spinning  or  ribbon  sell- 
ing or  law  —  anything,  no  matter  how  remote  from 
their  life's  work,  that  offers  wages. 

Fortunately,  one  profession,  that  of  teaching, 
most  popular  with  educated  women,  does  prepare 
them  for  training  their  own  children.  Its  only 
drawbacks  are  the  overstrain  on  their  physical  pow- 
ers, which  it  often  involves,  especially  during  the 
preparatory  period  of  examinations,  and  the  tempta- 
tion which  the  high  salaries  in  the  better  positions 
present  to  women  to  discard  motherhood  entirely. 

A  conscious  adaptation  of  work  during  this  inter- 
lude to  work  in  after  hfe,  an  adaptation  which  Hu- 
manism would  welcome,  will  come  only  when  the 
adolescent  girls  and  their  mothers  —  and  society  — 
exhibit  a  better  appreciation  of  the  significance  and 
difficulty  and  glory  of  the  home  queen's  duties. 
*'  Though  the  average  girl  sees  in  marriage  a  step 
toward  freedom,"  witness  the  best  informed  observ- 
ers, yet  *'  while  in  her  romancing  the  girl  naturally 
centres  her  thoughts  about  the  management  of  a 
home,  she  does  not  look  upon  housekeeping  as  a 
trade  to  be  learned,  but  expects  to  blossom  into  do- 
mestic competence  after  the  marriage  ceremony. 
Some  few  girls  have  a  fore-handed  interest  in  cook- 
ing, a  still  smaller  number  manifest  a  workmanlike 


WORK  BEFORE  MARRIAGE  41 

zest  for  homemaking ;  hardly  any  think  to'  prepare 
themselves  for  motherhood.  From  the  very  start 
the  Interest  of  the  girl  Is  divided  between  present 
wage-earning  and  future  housekeeping.'*  ^ 

Since  the  normal  woman  will  pursue  a  money-mak- 
ing occupation  only  for  a  few  years,  she  cannot  profit- 
ably devote  several  years  to  special  preparation  for 
It,  unless  It  also  prepares  her  for  homemaking  and 
motherhood.  Occupations  which  require  a  lustrum 
to  a  decade  of  special  study,  and  which,  like  law  and 
preaching,  yield  an  equipment  not  serviceable  to  the 
mother,  presuppose  either  the  abandonment  of  the 
profession  before  It  can  return  the  expenses  of 
preparation,  or  the  renunciation  of  motherhood  by 
the  woman  who  undertakes  them.  Medicine  and 
teaching,  on  the  other  hand,  have  value  in  the  home 
which  compensates  for  the  long  novitiate. 

Machine  industry,  the  destiny  of  most  industrial- 
ised women,  requires  but  short  time  for  learning, 
and  speed,  the  element  most  sought  by  employers, 
IS  gained  while  wages  are  being  earned.  It  is  for 
this  reason  that  factory  work  has  become  so  widely 
available.  The  feminlsatlon  of  Industry  follows 
upon  its  simplification.  The  lighter  and  more  me- 
chanical the  process,  the  greater  the  certainty  that  it 
will  be  done  by  women. 

So  women  can  and  do  and  should  regard  indus- 
trial employment  as  a  stop  gap  In  a  life's  work  — 
an  Interlude  between  the  subjection  of  school  and  the 

1"  Young  Working  Girls,"  by  Woods  and  Kennedy,  p.  162. 


42  FEMINISM 

independence  of  marriage.  They  view  their  occupa- 
tion differently  from  men.  They  have  not  the  same 
stimulus  to  master  a  complicated  industry,  not  the 
same  interest  in  laying  foundations  wide  and  deep 
on  which  they  may  build  a  lucrative  career  in  later 
life.  They  consequently  combine  less  readily  than 
men  in  trade  organisations,  endure  less  willingly  the 
sacrifice  necessary  to  perfect  a  defence  which  will 
serve  them  a  decade  later.  They  must  have  imme- 
diate returns. 

These  limitations  Feminism  bemoans  and  urges 
women  to  break  through.  It  laments  that  a  woman, 
by  looking  forward  to  matrimony,  should  diminish 
her  interest  in  her  factory  work.  It  would  reverse 
conditions :  make  wage  earning  permanent  and  mar- 
riage transient,  salary  the  major  and  children  the 
minor  interest. 

Humanism,  on  the  contrary,  would  encourage 
young  women  to  regard  industrial  work  as  only  a 
temporary  expedient  for  filling  their  time,  with  more 
or  less  profit,  until  they  marry.  No  employment 
would  it  countenance  which,  in  any  way,  would  re- 
duce the  young  woman's  fitness  for  motherhood,  and 
it  would  advise  her  to  select  an  employment  which 
would  prepare  her  for  her  real  Hfe's  work.  For  in- 
stance, domestic  service  in  a  good  home,  even  at  low 
wages  under  an  intelligent,  sympathetic  woman  who 
would  encourage  the  servant  in  "  keeping  company,'' 
would  be  more  advantageous  than  making  paper 
boxes  or  artificial  flowers,  dipping  matches,  tending 


WORK  BEFORE  MARRIAGE  43 

a  spinning  machine,  or  wrapping  parcels  under  a  driv- 
ing man  superintendent,  in  a  store  or  factory.  And, 
in  fact,  the  money  return  for  the  domestic  service 
would  be  higher. 

A  vocational  bureau  for  guiding  girls  into  an  oc- 
cupation, whether  under  private  philanthropy  or  in 
connection  with  public  schools,  if  under  the  control 
of  feminist  ideas  will  hunt  for  jobs  preferably  out- 
side of  homes  and  alien  to  domestic  life,  but,  if  un- 
der control  of  humanist  ideas,  will  seek  first  to  fill 
every  procurable  opening  inside  homes  or,  like  nurs- 
ing, preparatory  for  domestic  life. 

Under  Humanism  the  regiments  of  bright  young 
women  engaged  on  salary  in  social  and  philanthropic 
institutions,  would  be  warned  when  they  were  en- 
gaged that  they  would  not  be  retained  beyond  a  few 
years  and  must,  on  no  account,  regard  the  employ- 
ment as  a  life's  career. 

The  director  of  one  eugenic  association  which  an- 
nually engages  a  few  of  the  most  brilliant  graduates 
of  the  women's  colleges  says  to  them:  "  I  will  em- 
ploy you  for  three  years,  and  no  longer,  because  by 
the  end  of  that  time  I  expect  you  will  have  secured 
a  permanent  engagement  to  become  some  good 
man's  wife  and  continue  your  eugenic  work  in  a  more 
fruitful  way." 

Teachers'  salary  schedules  would  in  a  similar  spirit 
be  revised.  In  large  cities,  like  New  York,  the 
salaries  are  arranged  as  if  there  were  a  deliberate 
purpose  to  present  the  maximum  temptation  to  spin- 


44  FEMINISM 

sterhood.  For  sixteen  years  and  more  after  starting 
to  teach,  the  woman's  salary  is  annually  increased  al- 
most automatically  and  promotion  to  the  highest 
positions  is  the  reward  reserved  to  those  who  eschew 
motherhood.  Humanism  would  organise  school 
systems  on  the  presumption  that  it  desired  every 
teacher  to  marry  before  thirty  and  approved  her 
return  to  the  service,  for  ten  to  fifteen  years,  after 
forty-five,  when  her  children  were  grown  up.  It 
would,  therefore,  make  the  first  appointment  of  a 
woman  fresh  from  training  school,  for  a  maximum 
of  five  to  ten  years,  and  would  reserve  the  highest 
teaching  positions  available  to  women  for  those 
women'who  had  completed  the  richest  of  a  woman's 
experiences,  the  rearing  of  a  family.  Meantime, 
(as  explained  more  fully  later  on,)  it  would  subsidise 
her  for  the  teaching  of  her  own  young  children  at 
home,  to  an  amount  fully  equal  to  the  present  cost 
of  teaching  them  in  school. 

Through  thoughtlessness  and  through  blindness 
to  the  fatal  racial  consequences,  schools  and  colleges, 
philanthropic  societies  and  the  best  employers  of 
labour  are  engaged  unconsciously  in  a  conspiracy 
against  matrimony.  They  say  in  effect  to  the  most 
competent  young  women:  "  If  you  renounce  mar- 
riage and  continue  in  this  salary-earning  work  we 
will  raise  your  earnings  periodically  and  promote 
you  to  positions  of  greater  honour  and  responsibil- 
ity." 

Such  conspiracy  Is  treason  to  society  more  flagrant 


WORK  BEFORE  MARRIAGE  45 

far  than  any  combination  In  restraint  of  trade.  By 
breaking  up  that  conspiracy  Humanism  would  reduce 
the  problem  of  the  married  woman  In  Industry. 
This  must  next  be  considered. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   MARRIED   WOMAN   IN   INDUSTRY 

Should  a  woman  resign  her  wage-earning  position 
when  she  marries?  "No!  emphatically  no!"  an- 
swers Feminism.  "  She  must  preserve  her  hard- 
won  independence.  She  can  add  conjugal  love  to 
her  life ;  but  never  must  she  allow  love  to  supersede 
earning.  By  continuing  at  lucrative  work  she  can 
hire  experts  to  do  her  household  duty  and,  exempt 
from  the  drudgery  of  cooking,  cleaning,  sewing  and 
serving,  she  can  realise  herself  in  her  occupation  and 
swim  in  the  great  current  of  the  world's  life.  Not 
only  should  she  keep  up  her  vocation  after  the  wed- 
ding but  she  should  endeavour  to  make  it  legally  Im- 
possible for  any  employer  to  bar  her  from  factory, 
school  or  office  on  account  of  matrimony." 

The  legislature  of  Western  Australia  has  made  It 
a  crime  punishable  with  imprisonment  for  three 
months  or  a  fine  of  $2500  for  any  employer  either 
to  dismiss  a  work  woman  or  to  reduce  her  In  grade 
when  she  marries.  That  is  the  logical  climax  of  In- 
dustrial Feminism,  of  the  Ideal — "  Every  woman  at 
work  for  wages.''  If  the  dependence  on  husband 
is  a  disgrace  and  the  earning  of  her  own  bread  a 
precious  right  which  every  mother  should  cherish, 

46 


MARRIED  WOMAN  IN  INDUSTRY    47 

then  no  employer  should  be  permitted  to  deny  her 
that  right. 

This  doctrine,  dinned  into  the  ears  of  bright,  am- 
bitious college  girls,  deflects  their  minds  from  home- 
making  and  often  turns  the  balance  against  it.  But 
working  women  by  the  ten  thousand  who  toil  for 
wages  of  five  to  ten  dollars  a  week  are  not  prone 
to  this  deception.  They  look  forward  to  marriage 
as  a  release  from  drudgery.  They  expect  the  hus- 
band's wages  to  be  handed  to  them  for  disbursement, 
regarding  their  work  in  homemaking  as  their  full 
and  sufficient  contribution  to  the  joint  menage. 
That  their  economic  service  in  the  home  is  fully  as 
valuable  as  in  the  factory  they  know  without  elab- 
orate demonstration,  because  if  they  are  to  pay  for 
suitable  help,  according  to  feminist  directions,  every 
cent  of  their  slender  earnings  will  go  to  the  "  suitable 
help  "  who,  even  then,  will  do  far  less  for  money 
than  they  themselves  for  love. 

Such  women,  the  real  wage-earners,  know  from 
their  own  bitter  experience,  as  Humanism  recognises, 
how  hurtful  to  health  and  well-being  is  the  indus- 
trial employment  of  women.  To  this  harmfulness 
whole  libraries  of  evidence  has  been  given  by  doc- 
tors, factory  inspectors,  investigators,  sociologists 
and  officials  of  every  grade.  As  to  the  effect  on  the 
worker  herself,  a  British  factory  inspector  says : 

"  In  weaving  rooms  and  other  places  where 
women  are  obliged  to  stand  at  their  work,  varicose 
veins  are  more  than  commonly  frequent  and,  nat- 


48  FEMINISM 

urally  enough,  occur  more  frequently  among  the 
married  women."  ^ 

Earlier  in  life  the  damage  has  already  appeared. 
"  The  witness  has  lived  in  twenty  factory  towns  and 
has  observed  that  young  women  who  work  in  the 
factories  are  many  of  them  ruined  in  morals  and 
nearly  all  in  health.  A  rosy-cheeked  girl  put  in  a 
mill  will  begin  to  fade  in  three  months."  ^  A  high 
price,  surely,  to  pay  for  initiation  into  industry.  A 
doctor  testifies  that,  "  Forty  per  cent,  of  married 
women  who  have  been  factory  or  shop  girls  come 
under  medical  attention  for  pelvic  troubles  under 
thirty  years  of  age."  ^  Such  penalties  are  rarely 
escaped  by  the  women  who  work  as  ninety-nine  out 
of  every  hundred  women  who  seek  ''  economic  in- 
dependence "  must  work. 

Few  women  workers  are  so  well  placed  as  those 
who  are  gracefully  styled  lady  compositors,  yet  as 
to  them,  "  Long  hours  of  standing  result  in  injuries 
to  the  tissues  of  the  legs  and  feet,  often  persisting 
for  years,  occasioning  much  pain  and  in  some  cases 
total  disability."  *  Naturally  such  injuries  culmi- 
nate in  early  death  and,  "  Statistics  show  that  the 
mortality  of  working  women  is  higher  than  that  of 
working  men  and  also  higher  than  that  of  other 
women  not  at  work."  ^ 

1 "  Fatigue  and  Efficiency,"  by  Goldmark,  p.  132. 
^  Ibid.,  p.  132. 
^  Ibid.,  p.   135. 
*  Ibid.,  pp.  141-2. 
« Ibid.,  p.  28, 


MARRIED  WOMAN  IN  INDUSTRY     49 

Even  If  she  do  not  marry,  the  woman  cannot  es- 
cape the  penalty  of  her  sex  when  exposed  to  the 
strains  of  industry.  ''  The  unmarried  as  well  as  the 
married  woman  is  subject  to  the  physical  limitations 
of  her  sex  and  each  suffers  alike  from  those  inci- 
dents of  industrial  work  most  detrimental  to  the  fe- 
male reproductive  systems,  such  as  overstrain  from 
excessive  speed  and  complexity,  prolonged  standing 
and  the  absence  of  a  monthly  day  of  rest."  ^ 

Employments  that  do  not  require  constant  stand- 
ing and  are  quite  "  genteel "  in  character,  yet  bring 
their  own  special  harm  to  women  workers.  Uni- 
versally girls  are  employed  as  operators  at  telephone 
switch-boards.  Smartly  dressed,  intelligent  in  fea- 
ture, sifted  and  trained  in  special  schools,  better 
paid  than  most  girl  workers,  these  telephone  op- 
erators, with  '*  the  voice  with  a  smile  that  wins," 
to  whose  prompt  "  Number  please?  "  we  are  all  ac- 
customed, are  not  usually  brought  to  mind  when  the 
distresses  of  female  wage-working  are  considered. 
Yet  a  Canadian  royal  commission  aided  by  twenty- 
eight  physicians  reported:  "^  "  In  our  opinion  a  day 
of  six  working  hours  ...  is  quite  long  enough  for 
a  woman  to  be  engaged  in  this  class  of  work  if  a 
proper  regard  is  to  be  had  for  the  effect  upon  her 
health."  But  the  average  hours  of  work  in  the 
United  States  are  eight  and  one-half  per  day  and, 
far  from  a  six-hour  day,  a  case  of  thirty-nine  hours 

®  Ibid.,  p.  40. 

^  Senate  Document  No.  380. 


50  FEMINISM 

overtime  in  two  weeks  added  to  a  regular  nine-hour 
day  "  is  not  an  exceptional  case.  Many  other  girls 
are  working  as  long  hours."  Women  in  industry 
must  sacrifice  themselves  to  the  business.  The  busi- 
ness will  not  sacrifice  itself  to  them ;  it  will  exact  the 
last  ounce  of  strength.  "  It  is  safe  to  say  that  the 
breaking  point  of  the  operator's  health  is  not  far 
from  the  breaking  point  of  efficient  work,"  says  the 
report. 

So  it  goes.  In  England,  in  Germany,  in  France, 
in  Canada,  in  the  United  States  —  wherever  eyes 
have  been  opened  to  look  clearly  on  the  effect  of 
wage-earning  on  woman's  vigour  and  enjoyment  of 
life  —  the  same  dismal  tale  of  sickness  and  prema- 
ture death  is  told.  Yet,  with  increasing  frequency 
girls  in  offices  and  stores  and  social  work,  the  cleaner 
and  lighter  occupations,  tend  to  stay  at  work  after 
marriage,  at  least  until  handicapped  by  the  coming 
of  a  baby;  in  which  case  the  woman  does  double 
duty  as  provider  and  housekeeper.  The  young 
couple  start  with  light  housekeeping  in  which  John 
is  expected  to  help  Mary  by  lighting  the  morning 
fire,  wiping  the  dishes  and  sharing  in  the  heavy 
furniture  cleaning.  Of  this,  in  his  masculine,  self- 
ish way,  he  presently  tires.  Always  the  tendency 
is  for  more  and  more  of  the  housework  to  fall  ex- 
clusively on  the  woman.  She  does  it  more  handily, 
it  seems  "  natural  like  "  for  her  to  undertake  it, 
the  bliss  of  love's  young  dream,  so  vivid  during  the 
courtship,   when  he   found  his  greatest  delight  in 


MARRIED  WOMAN  IN  INDUSTRY     51 

joining  with  her  in  any  work  that  gave  a  chance  for 
a  hand  touch  and  a  stolen  kiss,  begins  to  fade,  and 
presently  the  traditional  functions  of  woman  in  the 
home  are  added  to  her  self-retained  new  function 
of  provider  for  the  home.  Theory  fails  against 
age-long  custom  and  natural  fitness.  Her  hours  at 
the  office  are  the  same  as  his.  Together  they  may 
start  off  in  the  morning  and  return  in  the  evening; 
but  before  she  goes  she  must  get  the  breakfast  and 
plan  the  evening  meal  and  when  they  return  there  is 
the  meal  to  be  cooked,  table  to  be  laid,  dishes  to  be 
washed  and  dusting,  cleaning  and  furnishing  of 
rooms  to  fill  the  evening.  Unless  she  succeeds  in 
smothering  all  her  feminine  instincts  she  will  be 
more  eager  to  make  the  rooms  into  a  domestic  nest 
than  she  was  to  turn  her  single  bachelor  hall-bed- 
room into  an  abiding  place.  So  Mary  works  while 
John  reads  the  newspaper  and  smokes.  Inevitably 
she  is  overloaded.  Marriage  has  brought  him  a 
cosy  place  of  his  own  in  which  to  rest  and  refresh 
\  himself  after  the  day's  fatigues;  but  she  has  found 
an  additional  burden,  lightened  indeed  by  love  and 
the  creation  of  a  nest  of  her  own  —  but  yet  of  neces- 
sity an  additional  drain  on  her  vitality,  an  added  pull 
on  her  elasticity. 

"  But,"  the  feminist  will  exclaim,  '*  why  doesn't 
she  hire  a  woman  to  come  in  while  she  is  away  dur- 
ing the  day  and  clean  up  everything,  lay  the  table 
tor  supper,  have  the  lamps  lighted  and  the  curtains 
r  drawn  against  the  mistress's  return  and  everything 


52  FEMINISM 

beautifully  arranged  so  that  Mary,  like  John,  can 
read  the  newspaper  and  smoke  her  cigarette  the  live- 
long evening  through?"  For  cogent  reasons. 
After  Mary  has  paid  out  of  her  very  moderate 
salary  for  her  carfare  and  her  lunches,  for  the  neat 
shirtwaists  and  hats  in  the  fashion  which  her  situa- 
tion demands,  for  her  laundry  and  other  expenses 
incidental  to  her  work,  so  little  is  left  as  her  con- 
tribution to  the  household  for  food,  rent,  light,  in- 
surance and  saving  that  she  does  not  see  how  she 
can  give  some  other  woman  $6.00  a  week  to  do  her 
housekeeping  for  her,  even  if  she  can  find  a  trust- 
worthy, capable  person  who  for  a  dollar  a  day  will 
not  break  and  waste  more  than  the  worth  of  her 
services. 

No !  The  feminist  substitute  for  the  wife's  work 
In  the  home  —  that  some  other  woman  shall  do  It  — 
presupposes  an  Income  which  the  wife  rarely  earns. 

But  when  the  wife  earns  a  salary  of  a  thousand 
dollars  a  year  and  over,  should  she  not  prefer  to  con- 
tinue her  earning  and  hire  a  servant  to  do  her  house- 
work? "  Surely  that  would  be  an  economy,"  argues 
the  feminist.  "  For  twenty-five  dollars  a  month  and 
board  (that  Is,  forty-five  dollars  a  month  gross) 
she  can  get  a  nice,  clean,  handy,  amiable,  competent 
person  who  will  reHeve  her  of  all  but  the  highest, 
the  intellectual  and  artistic,  parts  of  the  housekeep- 
ing and  she  will  be  free  to  earn  her  salary  —  a  net 
gain  to  the  household  of  around  five  hundred  dollars 
a  year.     What  folly  for  a  teacher,  a  secretary,  a 


MARRIED  WOMAN  IN  INDUSTRY     53 

so cLal  worker,  a  forewoman,  to  abandon  her  career, 
where  she  is  making  good  as  a  human  be ing*  to  sink      j 
down  into  the  insignificance  of  a  homemaking  wife.'^ 

At  two  places  this  scheme^^T  hfe  breaks"  down. 
First,  the  capable,  handy,  amiable,  clean,  trustworthy 
substitute  is  a  rarity,  hard  to  find  and  harder  to 
keep.  She  also  is  dissatisfied  with  domestic  work, 
as  eager  as  the  feminist  mistress  to  swing  into  the 
rapid  current  of  the  world's  life  and  handle  more 
of  her  own  money.  By  supposition  she  is  fit  to  be 
left  alone  all  day  long  without  supervision,  to  clean 
and  cook  and  wash  and  purchase.  She  is  honest  and 
able,  far  above  the  grade  of  the  raw  immigrant  who 
falls  to  the  hard  lot  of  the  majority  of  mistresses, 
and  who  must  be  trained  and  watched  with  a  patience 
and  a  skill  that  double  her  cost.  So  the  wife  dis- 
covers shortly  that  her  paragon,  if  she  has  had  the 
rare  luck  to  find  her  in  the  first  instance,  demands 
a  fast  rising  wage,  too  much  for  her  to  spare,  as  the 
price  for  staying  contentedly  in  another  woman's 
house,  acting  as  its  mistress  while  enjoying  no  sense 
of  possession.  The  harassing  servant  problem  has  , 
been  added  to  the  wife's  burdens  by  marriage. 

Second,  the  wife  cannot  escape  the  cares  of  super- 
vision and  some  duties  of  dusting,  decorating,  buying 
and  sewing,  even  if  she  would;  and  usually  she  will 
prefer  to  fill  some  of  her  spare  time  with  these 
womanly  devices.  She  cannot  behave  like  a  guest 
in  her  own  house,  never  making  a  bed,  cooking  a 
dish,  arranging  a  table  or  placing  a  bit  of  bric-a-brac. 


54  FEMINISM 

She  finds  that,  willy-nilly,  she  also,  while  retaining 
her  day's  work  at  her  office,  has  added  home  duties 
which  make  her  end  of  the  load  that  she  and  husband 
are  carrying  the  heavier.  Her  vitality  is  exhausted, 
her  strength  undermined,  her  interest  divided. 
School  superintendents  have  testified  that  the  mar- 
ried teacher  comes  more  tardily  to  school  and  leaves 
more  eagerly  on  the  minute  of -dismissal  than  she  did 
before  she  married. 

In  the  very  exceptional  cases  of  women  of  ex- 
traordinary talent  who,  fitted  in  industry  with  the 
exact  work  that  suits  them,  are  able  to  earn  three 
thousand  dollars  a  year  and  more,  enough  may  be 
allotted  to  buy  the  services  of  the  paragon  house- 
keeper and  maids  to  work  under  her  so  that  the  mis- 
tress can  be  spared  any  drain  on  her  strength  when 
she  returns  from  her  lucrative  day's  work. 

But,  even  then,  other  difficulties  make  this  sys- 
tem of  going  in  double  harness,  wife  and  husband 
pulling  an  equal  share  of  the  economic  load,  im- 
practicable as  a  usual  mode  of  life.  Suppose  either 
man  or  woman,  by  the  common  exigencies  of  their 
business,  must  remove  to  another  city.  What  then 
becomes  of  the  double-harnessing?  Which  shall 
control?  Shall  he  go  with  her  to  enable  her  to  es- 
tablish herself  afresh  or  she  break  her  business  con- 
nections to  stay  with  him?  "  Whither  thou  goest  I 
will  go,"  has  been  the  loving  pledge  of  the  wife  in 
the  patriarchal  family  because  the  necessities  of  the 
family  compel  the  father  to  follow  his  business  op- 


MARRIED  WOMAN  IN  INDUSTRY     s^ 

portunlty  wherever  It  leads.  But  when  loyalty  to 
her  career  clashes  with  loyalty  to  her  husband,  which 
shall  then  conquer? 

I  knew  one  lovely  young  feminist  whose  hopes 
came  to  wreck  on  just  this  reef.  She  was  an  able 
and  enthusiastic  labour  agitator,  hailing  from  Eng- 
land, who  found  congenial  and  well-paid  employment 
In  America.  But  before  entering  this  sphere  she 
had  shown  the  weakness  to  fall  In  love  with  an  Eng- 
lishman, whom.  In  the  expectation  that  her  career 
need  not  be  broken,  she  shortly  afterwards  married. 
However,  the  husband,  unable  to  discover  suitable 
employment  In  America,  went  to  a  good  berth  in 
South  Africa,  explaining  that,  ''  I  didn't  demand  that 
my  wife  should  give  up  her  career  but  I  never  had 
any  idea  of  giving  up  my  own."  With  this  geo- 
graphical separation  what  arrangement  could  be 
reached?  Could  two  hearts  on  two  separate  con- 
tinents continue  to  beat  as  one?  Manlike  and 
Englishmanlike,  he  expected  his  wife  to  follow  him. 
At  first  she  was  recalcitrant,  for  she  was  saturated 
with  feminist  theory,  but  after  a  few  months  of 
dallying  her  husband  offered  her  the  alternative  of 
complete  union  or  a  complete  rupture  of  communica- 
tion. A  famine  of  letters  from  him  brought  about 
a  crisis  and  she  finally  sacrificed  her  work  to  her  mar- 
riage vows. 

To  follow  the  feminist  rule  of  life,  a  woman 
preacher  must  confine  her  emotions  to  the  men  of  the 
township  where  her  church  stands.     If  Cupid  smites 


S6  FEMINISM 

her  in  some  distant  town  she  must  leave  her  pulpit  to 
assuage  the  wound  and  a  new  pulpit  in  her  lover's 
neighbourhood  it  will  be  impossible  in  most  cases  to 
find.  A  teacher  may  marry  another  teacher  in  the 
same  city  and  join  salaries  comfortably  until  one  of 
them  finds  promotion  elsewhere.  Then  the  wrench 
comes.  Even  in  the  same  big  city,  New  York,  for 
instance,  it  is  not  feasible  for  him  to  teach  at  one 
end  of  the  city  and  her  at  the  other  end  and  both  to 
live  in  the  centre;  the  geographical  difficulties  are 
insuperable;  the  time  required  for  transportation 
and  the  double  weariness  of  the  travelling  make  the 
cost  too  high. 

All  these  mundane  obstacles,  however,  are  of 
trifling  importance  compared  with  the  peril  of  the 
central  assumption  of  this  menage  a  deux,  an  assump- 
tion most  repugnant  to  Humanism:  that  there  shall 
be  no  early  fruit  of  the  marriage.  Society's  prevail- 
ing arrangement  is  based  on  the  opposite  expectation. 
Civil  service  rules  and  the  rules  of  boards  of  edu- 
cation, which  require  the  resignation  of  a  woman  em- 
ploye when  she  marries,  are  drafted  on  the  assump- 
tion that  married  couples  will  have  babies  and  that 
the  first  conception  will  occur,  on  the  average,  not 
many  months  after  marriage.  But  that  assumption 
is  becoming  old  fashioned  and  obsolete.  As  is 
demonstrated  by  the  agitation  against  the  retire- 
ment of  women  teachers,  doctors  or  civil  servants 
upon  marriage  and  is  verified  by  the  West  Australian 
law  that  forbids  any  employer  to  dismiss  or  demote 


MARRIED  WOMAN  IN  INDUSTRY     57 

a  woman  upon  her  marriage,  feminists  resent  the 
impHcation  that  any  physiological  disability  for  the 
full  discharge  of  their  business  duties  will  follow 
upon  their  marriage.  And,  In  truth,  as  we  have 
shown  in  another  chapter,  the  college  and  profes- 
sional and  business  woman  knows  how  to  keep  any 
maternal  longings  under  the  strictest  control  and  to 
outwit  Dame  Nature's  devices. 

Feminism  would  supplant  instinct  by  thrift  and 
strike  out  of  the  marriage  service  all  reference  to  the 
Biblical  injunction  to  "  be  fruitful  and  multiply  and 
replenish  the  earth."  It  challenges  society  to  alter 
Its  fundamental  assumptions  about  the  consequences 
of  marriage  and  to  base  industrial  employment  for 
women  on  the  presupposition  that  maternity.  If  not 
entirely  avoided,  will  at  least  be  effectively  regulated 
by  the  law  of  economic  Independence  for  women. 
Society  has  been  organised,  hitherto,  on  the  human- 
ist assumption  that  the  operation  of  instinctive  Im- 
pulse was  so  dependable  and  Its  consequences  so  in- 
evitable that  the  woman  would,  shortly  after  mar- 
riage, be  Incapacitated  for  strenuous  outside  activity 
and  should  therefore,  upon  marriage,  resign  that 
activity. 

Feminism  challenges  society  to  revise  that  com- 
mon expectation,  and  to  recognise  that  mating  need 
not  mean  maternity  and  to  rearrange  the  rules  of 
employment  so  as  to  approve  and  encourage  the  fem- 
inist In  her  subordination  of  maternity  to  money- 
making. 


V 

58  FEMINISM 

Not,  however,  that  all  feminists  approve  of  com- 
pletely sterile  marriages.  A  child  is  necessary  to  the 
woman,  argue  some,  for  her  complete  self-realisa- 
tion; therefore,  she  must  not  permit  even  her  eco- 
nomic independence  to  sentence  her  to  maternal  ste- 
rility. But  neither  must  she  permit  the  baby  to  sen- 
tence her  to  economic  dependence.  She  should  not 
resign  her  vocation  on  marriage  because  marriage 
implies  a  baby,  since,  even  with  a  baby,  she  will  not 
need  to  resign  her  vocation.  That  brings  us  to  the 
question  of  the  mother  in  industry,  which  must  next 
be  considered. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE   MOTHER   IN   INDUSTRY 

For  the  mother  who  accepts  support  from  her  chil- 
dren's father  while  she  is  bearing  and  rearing  them, 
Feminism  has  neither  patience  nor  respect.  She  is 
a  "  parasite,"  a  "  horse-leech's  daughter  crying, 
*  Give!  Give!  '  "  '*  This  economic  dependence  of 
the  human  female  on  her  mate,"  it  is  declared,  has 
"  modified  her  to  sex  to  an  excessive  degree."  ^ 
Neither  the  woman  who  supports  herself  without 
having  children  nor  the  woman  who  has  children 
without  supporting  herself  is  best  aiding  the  woman's 
movement,  say  young  feminists,  but  the  woman  who 
both  supports  herself  and  has  a  family. 

In  our  glorious  day,  when  machines  do  so  much 
and  when,  as  Olive  Schreiner  has  most  fortunately 
discovered,  "  in  modern  cities  our  carpets  are  beaten, 
our  windows  cleaned,  and  our  floors  polished  by  ex- 
tra domestic  and  often  male  labour,"  it  is  clear  to 
Feminism  that  women,  even  the  wives  of  labourers, 
who,  as  everybody  knows,  have  their  tenement  flats 
kept  spotlessly  clean  for  them,  "  by  machinery  or 
extra-domestic  and  often  male  labour,"  commit  a 
crime  against  society  when  they  refrain  from  earn- 
ing wages  and  stay  at  home  on  the  mediaeval  plea 

1"  Woman  and  Economics,"  by  Charlotte  P.  Gilman,  p.  38. 

59 


6o  FEMINISM 

that  a  few  babies  and  an  apartment  fully  occupy  their 
hands  and  brains. 

An  awful  era  of  female  parasitism  threatens  civi- 
lisation, Olive  Schreiner  declares.  "  During  the 
next  fifty  years  so  rapid  will  be  the  spread  of  the 
material  conditions  of  civilisation  that  the  ancient 
forms  of  female,  domestic,  physical  labour  of  even 
the  women  of  the  poorest  classes  will  be  little  re- 
quired, their  place  being  taken,  not  by  other  females, 
but  by  always  increasingly  perfected  labour-saving 
machinery,"  so  that  "  it  would  be  entirely  possible 
for  the  female  half  of  the  race,  whether  as  prosti- 
tutes, as  kept  mistresses  or  as  kept  wives,  to  cease 
from  all  forms  of  active  toil."  ^ 

''  Kept  wives  "  are  classed  with  "  prostitutes  and 
kept  mistresses,"  for  it  is  self-evidently  absurd  that 
"  we  justify  and  approve  the  economic  dependence 
of  women  upon  the  sex  relation  in  marriage  while  we 
condemn  it  unsparingly  out  of  marriage."  ^ 

How  ridiculous  that  the  trifling  factor  of  marriage 
should  make  so  enormous  a  difference  to  our  opinion 
of  "  the  economic  dependence  of  women  upon  the 
sex  relation  " !  The  Madonna  with  her  children 
clinging  around  her  knees  merits  no  more  reverence, 
indeed,  than  the  sinning  Magdalen,  unless  she  en- 
noble her  motherhood  by  toiling  in  field  or  factory 
for  the  support  of  her  offspring! ! 

Not  that  the  curse  of  parasitism  will  overtake 

2  "Woman  and  Labor,"  p.  115. 

3  "  Woman  and  Economics,"  p.  97. 


THE  MOTHER  IN  INDUSTRY        6i 

woman  through  her  refusing  altogether  the  burden 
of  child  bearing.  "  One  of  the  Incomplete  emanci- 
pations will  assuredly  be  from  the  thraldom  of  child 
bearing,  which  I  do  not  suppose  she  will  abandon," 
says  another  feminist  champion.  "  Increasingly 
perfected  labour-saving  machinery  "  has  not  yet  been 
devised  to  save  woman's  child  labour;  and  we  are 
reassured  when  we  read  that  "  I  think  that  we  may 
safely  assume  that  the  majority  of  women  con- 
\  sclously  or  unconsciously  desire  to  have  children, 
much  more  so  than  to  practise  an  art."  ^  Though 
the  feminist  advocate  Is  not  positive  of  the  continu- 
ance of  the  maternal  Instinct  In  human  beings  (an  un- 
certainty perhaps  justified  by  the  few  marriages  and 
fewer  children  among  women  college  graduates), 
yet  It  Is  comforting  to  know  that  even  the  stout  fem- 
inist will  admit  that  fifty-one  out  of  one  hundred 
women,  a  '*  majority  "  desire  to  have  children  even  If 
V  "  unconsciously,"  so  that,  not  being  aware  of  It,  they 
may  direct  their  lives  without  regard  to  It. 

But  bearing  children  Is  no  excuse  for  welcoming 
''  parasitism."  The  mother  should  resent  the  In- 
dignity of  dependence  on  husband,  for  *'  this  eco- 
nomic use  of  sex  Is  the  real  cancer  at  the  very  root 
of  the  sexual  relationship."  "  It  Is  but  a  step  fur- 
ther and  a  perfectly  logical  one  that  leads  to  pros- 
Istitutlon !  "  ^  In  Egypt,  It  appears.  In  the  halq^on 
'   days  of  woman  rule,  "  woman's  position  and  liberty 

*  "  Woman  and  To-morrow,"  by  A.  L.  George,  p.  lOO. 
5  "The  Truth  about  Woman,"  p.  215. 


62  FEMINISM 

of  action  was  In  no  way  dependent  on  her  power  of 
sex  fascination  and  not  even  directly  dependent  on 
her  position  as  mother,  and  this  really  explains  the 
happy  working  of  their  domestic  relationships."  ^ 
So  long  as  a  mother  is  dependent  upon  her  husband 
for  support,  claims  Feminism,  she  cannot  be  a  free 
human  being,  as  exalted  In  dignity,  as  elevated  In 
worth  as  the  man,  and  a  bar  is  placed  to  "  the  happy 
working  of  their  domestic  relationships." 

But  there  Is  a  cleavage  of  opinion  as  to  the  best 
scheme  for  dispensing  with  the  husband's  support. 
One  section  of  Feminism  smiles  approvingly  on  all 
proposals  for  the  state  endowment  of  motherhood, 
the  payment  by  the  community  to  the  mother  direct 
of  weekly  sums  sufficient  to  support  her  and  her  chil- 
dren during  their  time  of  tutelage,  as  a  public  recog- 
nition that  child  bearing  Is  a  communal  service,  not  a 
private  luxury,  which,  being  essential  to  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  nation,  should  be  equally  rewarded 
with  the  service  of  the  soldier  In  the  defence  of  the 
nation.  Mr.  H.  G.  Wells  would  even  abrogate  the 
private  family  altogether.  Socialism  is  the  state 
family,  he  contends,  and  "  the  old  family  of  thcx 
private  Individual  must  vanish  before  It,  just  as  the 
old  waterworks  of  private  enterprise  or  the  old  gas 
company.     They  are  incompatible  with  It." 

This  cure  for  mother's  parasitism,  however.  Is  re- 
pugnant to  those  feminists  who  exult  in  all  woman's 

6  "Truth  about  Woman,"  p.  216. 


THE  MOTHER  IN  INDUSTRY        6^ 

industrial  activity,  because  it  implies  payment  for  sex 
functions  and  "  women  are  not  salaried  as  mothers 
and  it  would  be  unspeakably  degrading  if  they 
were."  "^  Also  and  mainly,  child  bearing  and  child 
rearing,  to  the  feminists,  is  only  an  episode  in  wom- 
an's life  which  may  be  passed  through  smoothly  and 
lightheartedly  without  serious  interruption  of  her 
business  and  professional  duties. 

They  protest  stridently  against  "  the  economically 
unsound,  unjust  and  racially  dangerous  tendency  in 
many  salaried  professions  to  enforce  upon  woman 
resignation  on  marriage."  They  deplore  the  fact 
that  some  women  doctors  retire  from  practice  at 
marriage,  and  they  consider  it  is  "  much  more  de- 
sirable from  the  point  of  view  of  medical  women  as 
a  whole  for  them  to  continue  their  work."  This 
course  is  practicable  and  safe,  although  "  while  bear- 
ing a  child  such  a  doctor  will  need  to  retire  from 
practice  for  at  least  two  or  three  months,  probably 
longer."  ^  For  at  least  two  or  three  months  the  de- 
light of  amputating  limbs  must  be  abandoned  by  the 
female  medico  for  the  mere  matter  of  creating  a 
human  being! 

And  this  glad  day  of  mother's  emancipation  from 
father's  support  is  fast  approaching.  The  president 
of  Bryn   Mawr   College  predicts  composedly  that 

''"Woman  and  Economics/'  p.  17. 

8 "  Women  Workers  in   Seven  Professions,"   edited  by  Edith  J. 
Morley,  p.  i6a. 


64  FEMINISM 

*'  in  the  immediate  future  all  dowerless  women  who 
wish  to  marry  men  without  inherited  fortunes  or  ex- 
traordinary money-making  capacity  must  work  for 
their  own  and  their  children's  daily  bread."  ^ 

This  doctrine  puts  Feminism  in  close  alliance  with 
machine  industry,  where  ''  the  field  of  employment 
constantly  widens  in  which  wives  are  expected  to 
earn  wages,  as  in  tobacco  factories,  laundries,  cigar- 
making,  the  garment  trades  and  the  textiles.  In- 
dustry now  counts  upon  having  not  only  men  and 
girls  but  married  women  as  well.  Girls  marry  with 
the  knowledge  that  as  wives  they  will  have  to  work 
for  wages  and  accept  it  as  the  will  of  God,  or  the 
curse  of  nature,  when  in  their  families  babies  die."  ^^ 

Indeed,  though  ignorant  of  feministic  teachings, 
thousands  of  mothers  throughout  the  civilised  world 
are  wage-earning  in  factory  and  mill  and  field  and 
store,  utterly  unaware  how  much  their  self-abnega- 
tion has  raised  their  dignity  and  improved  the  status 
of  womankind! 

On  the  contrary,  with  a  perversity  which  perplexes 
the  feminist,  the  genuine  working  mother,  in  the 
overwhelming  proportion  of  cases,  regards  her 
"  economic  independence  "  as  a  curse  to  herself,  to 
her  children  and  to  the  community,  and  Is  eager  to 
escape  it. 

Of  its  deleterious  effects  on  her  and  her  offspring, 

8  "  A  New-fashioned  Argument  for  Woman  Suffrage,"  published 
by  National  Woman  Suffrage  Association. 
10  "Modern  Industry,"  by  Florence  Kelly,  p.  15. 


THE  MOTHER  IN  INDUSTRY        6s 

the  evidence  is  appalling,  and  to  Humanism  perfectly 
convincing. 

Dr.  George  Reid,  the  county  medical  officer  of 
Staffordshire,  England,  made  an  investigation  of  the 
early  life  history  of  4275  infants  born  in  that  county 
in  6  pottery  towns  in  1908.  He  found  that  in  the 
first  year,  out  of  every  1000  births,  among  those 
whose  mothers  stayed  at  home,  146  died,  and  among 
those  whose  mothers  were  working  in  factories  or 
were  from  home  during  the  day  209  died.  There 
.  was  an  extra  death  toll,  then,  of  63  per  thousand  due 
^  to  the  mother's  "  economic  independence." 

Dr.  John  Robertson,  medical  officer  of  health  in 
Birmingham,  England,  found  in  a  district  inhabited 
by  very  poor,  unskilled  labourers,  that  among  the 
mothers  employed  before  confinement  52  out  of 
V  1000  births  were  premature,  and  among  mothers  not 
^  employed  before  confinement  38  out  of  1000  were 
premature  —  a  direct  sacrifice  of  14  nascent  lives  out 
of  every  thousand  to  the  Moloch  of  "  economic  in- 
dependence." He  testifies  further  that  "  a  larger 
percentage  of  infants  of  mothers  not  employed  than 
of  those  of  mothers  employed  were  at  the  end  of 
twelve  months  in  good  health."  "  In  the  special 
area  under  review  there  seems  to  be  no  doubt  about 
the  prejudicial  influence  of  employment  of  preg- 
nant and  nursing  mothers  in  factories,  both  on  their 
Infants  and  on  themselves." 

This  can  cause  no  astonishment  to  the  informed, 
for  another  investigator,  Mr.  George  Cadbury,  wit- 


66  FEMINISM 

nesses  that  "  inspection  of  the  homes  of  women  who 
have  to  be  at  factories  all  day  clearly  indicates  that 
the  removal  of  the  mother  gives  rise  to  many  con- 
ditions of  dirtiness  or  irregular  or  bad  nourishment 
of  infants  which  must  obviously  be  prejudicial." 

This  neglect  is  inevitably  injurious,  also,  to  the 
father,  and  Mr.  Cadbury's  investigations  in  Birming- 
ham showed  that  the  proportion  of  sober  and  steady 
men  was  nearly  twice  as  great  in  families  where 
wives  do  not  work  as  in  homes  where  wives  do 
work,  and  the  evidence  indicated  not  that  the 
mothers  went  to  work  because  the  fathers  drank,  but 
that  the  fathers  drank  because  of  the  comfortless 
homes  when  the  mothers  went  to  work. 

Dr.  Hamilton  writes:  "  A  poorer  way  of  living 
with  the  mother  at  home  causes  fewer  deaths  among 
infants  than  better  living  with  the  mother  working 
out,"  ^^  a  statement  which  was  picturesquely  verified 
during  the  siege  of  Paris  in  1871,  when,  despite  the 
famine  and  the  misery,  the  death  rate  of  Infants  fell 
40  per  cent,  because  the  mothers  could  not  leave 
them  to  go  out  to  work.  Lancashire  had  a  similar 
experience  during  the  cotton  famine. 

In  consequence  of  the  fact  that,  while  there  had 
been  a  steady  decline  in  the  general  mortality  of 
Preston,  England,  during  the  past  thirty  years,  the 
infant  mortality  has  shown  an  increase,  a  subcom- 
mittee was  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  causes 
( 1902) ,  and  submitted  the  conclusion  that: 

11  Charities  and  the  Commons,  September,  1908. 


V 


THE  MOTHER  IN  INDUSTRY        67 

"  First  among  these  causes  is  the  employment  of 
female  labour  in  mills  " ; 

"  In  general  it  may  be  said  that  It  Is  the  employ- 
ment of  women  from  girlhood  all  through  married 
life  and  during  the  period  of  child  bearing,  the  con- 
tinual stress  and  strain  of  the  work  and  hours  and 
the  general  conditions  prevailing  in  woman's  labour, 
that  is  exerting  its  baleful  Influence  on  the  individual 
and  on  the  home."  ^^ 

"  It  Is  singular,"  writes  Mr.  Thomas  M.  Dolan, 
"  how  unanimous  all  medical  officers  of  health  are 
in  assigning  the  employment  of  women  in  factories 
as  a  cause  of  infant  mortality." 

Germany  adds  her  weight  to  the  testimony. 

In  regard  to  the  injurious  effect  of  factory  work, 
the  factory  inspector  of  Wiirtemberg  writes :  "  The 
children  of  such  mothers  —  according  to  the  unani- 
mous testimony  of  nurses,  physicians  and  others  who 
were  Interrogated  on  this  important  subject  —  are 
mostly  pale  and  weakly;  when  these  In  turn  must  en- 
ter upon  factory  work  immediately  upon  leaving  the 
school.  It  is  impossible  for  a  sound,  sturdy,  enduring 
race  to  develop."  ^^ 

Dr.  Max  HIrsch  relates  that  **  a  very  considerable 
number  of  reports  indicate  as  a  cause  of  the  exces- 
sive mortality  of  suckling  infants,  besides  insufficient 
nourishment,  the  Insufficient  care  given  to  them,  since 
the  mother  Is  prevented  by  work  at  the  factory  from 

12  *<  Ii>fant  Mortality,"  by  George  Newman,  M.D.,  p.  131. 
13 "  Reports  of   German   Factory  Inspectors,   Berlin,   1905." 


68  FEMINISM 

devoting  herself  sufficiently  to  her  children  when 
they  are  in  good  health  and  even  when  they  are 
sick."  1^ 

Dr.  George  Adler  of  the  University  of  Freiburg 
testifies  that:  "The  worst  physiological  effects  of 
factory  work  for  women  were  shown  by  the  in- 
creased number  of  still  births  " —  half  as  many  more 
in  the  district  of  Miihlhausen  as  in  the  neighbouring 
country  regions. 

From  America  equally  full  testimony  is  not  obtain- 
able, because  vital  statistics  are  not  so  accurately 
kept  and  scientific  investigations  on  this  matter  have 
not  been  so  thorough.  But  in  America  also  "  in 
cities  where  a  large  proportion  of  the  women  are 
industrially  employed  a  high  rate  of  infant  mortality 
is  almost  always  found."  ^^  Though,  in  America, 
the  percentage  of  working  women  who  are  married 
is  only  15.5  as  against  29.7  in  Germany,  41.4  in 
Austria,  and  52.2  in  France. ^^ 

Of  an  investigation  by  the  Federal  Children's 
Bureau  into  the  infant  mortality  in  Johnstown,  Penn- 
sylvania, in  191 1,  Miss  JuHa  C.  Lathrop,  the  direc- 
tor, writes:  "  Where  mothers  were  forced  to  work 
in  order  to  supplement  the  husband's  income  the 
mortality  rate  for  their  babies  was  188  as  against 
1 17.6   in  the   families  where  the  mother  was  not 

1*  "  Prohibition  of  Night  Work  for  Women,"  p.  27. 

15  Mr.  Chas.  H.  Verrill,  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor,  at  In- 
ternational Congress  on  Hygiene,  1912. 

16  Dr.  Friederich  Zahn  of  Munich,  at  International  Congress  on 
Hygiene,  1912. 


THE  MOTHER  IN  INDUSTRY        69 

forced  to  work  directly  before  or  after  the  birth  of 
her  child."  "  It  was  also  found  that  in  the  matter 
of  feeding,  artificially-fed  babies  died  at  an  appall- 
ing greater  rate  than  breast-fed  babies."  And  when 
the  mother  is  also  a  wage  earner,  artificial  feeding  is 
a  necessity.  Thus  the  mother's  wage  earning  means 
death  to  the  baby. 

Incontrovertible  evidence  of  like  character  could 
be  offered,  in  overwhelming  quantity,  to  prove  that, 
in  real  life,  the  results  of  the  struggle  for  economic 
independence  by  women  is  the  black  opposite  to  the 
forecasts  in  the  golden  dreams  of  Feminism. 

Confronted  with  this  mass  of  evidence  of  the  sac- 
rifice of  infants,  the  mutilation  of  mothers  and  the 
wreck  of  homes  wrought  by  the  industrial  employ- 
ment of  mothers.  Feminism  begins  to  protest  that 
this  hideous  outcome,  though  it  accompanies  the 
mother's  wage  earning,  Is  a  consequence,  not  of  her 
toil,  but  of  her  poverty,  ignorance  and  environment. 

Doubtless  these  factors  affect  the  appalling  result, 
as  is  claimed  in  the  report  of  the  United  States 
Bureau  of  Labour  upon  a  very  limited  Inquiry  into 
the  effects  of  the  employment  of  mothers  in  the  mills 
of  Fall  River.  An  enlightened  mother,  well  trained 
and  prosperous,  whose  home  was  happy  and  healthy, 
would  keep  her  baby  In  health  even  though  she  went 
to  the  factory  herself,  better  than  another  mother 
who,  stupid,  half  starved  and  wretched,  sat  dully  by 
the  cradle,  doping  her  baby  with  narcotics.  But,  all 
other  conditions  being  the  same,  of  two  mothers,  she 


70  FEMINISM 

who  suckled  her  infant  at  her  breast  and  hourly  at- 
tended to  its  every  want  in  her  home  would,  self- 
evidently,  keep  burning  its  fitful  flame  of  life  more 
securely  than  she  who  left  it  daily  for  ten  hours  to 
a  nursing  bottle  and  a  casual  hired  attendant. 

Misery  and  ignorance,  bad  housing  and  insanitary 
habits,  are  all  allied  with  mother's  industrial  occupa- 
tion in  the  destructive  battle  against  the  babies  and 
their  homes.  All  are  growths  from  the  same  evil 
root  —  the  insufficiency  of  the  father's  wages  to  sus- 
tain his  home  in  reasonable  comfort.  Not  the  in- 
dustrial enslavement  of  mother  but  the  adequate  re- 
muneration of  father  is  the  remedy  to  be  sought,  says 
Humanism. 

Further,  the  varicose  veins,  the  killing  fatigue,  the 
strain  on  the  reproductive  organs  and  the  drained 
vitality  that  afflict  the  mother  herself  are  directly 
caused  by  her  employment,  irrespective  of  her  own 
penury  and  illiteracy.  An  intelligent  and  well-to-do 
woman  will  not  suffer  these  ills,  because  an  Intelligent 
and  well-to-do  woman  will  not  subject  herself  to 
the  evil  conditions.  A  very  brief  experience  will 
convince  her  that,  whether  or  not  mother's  place  is 
\    in  the  home,  mother's  place  is  not  in  the  factory. 

Driven  back  by  the  mass  of  the  facts,  Feminism 
has  only  one  manoeuvre  left.  "  We  admit,"  they 
say,  *'  that  as  conditions  now  obtain  they  are  a  dis- 
grace to  civilisation,  a  peril  to  womankind  and  a 
menace  to  the  race.  But  they  are  injurious  also  to 
men.     In  the  Interest  of  both  sexes  we  «hall  amend 


THE  MOTHER  IN  INDUSTRY        71 

factory  acts,  improve  wages,  shorten  hours  and  make 
all  work  places  sanitary,  so  that  ill  health,  pain, 
sterility  and  infanticide  will  no  longer,  In  the  wom- 
an's paradise,  be  the  toll  exacted  for  woman's  eco- 
nomic Independence." 

Although  the  most  revolting  consequences  of 
woman's  toil  In  the  sweated  Industries  and  under  the 
vilest  circumstances  of  overwork  and  underpay, 
should  be  mitigated  by  legislation  and  public  opin- 
ion. Humanism  recognises  that  woman's  conditions 
in  industry  can  never  be  equalised  with  man's.  Al- 
ways man  can  stand  in  front  of  the  machine  for  long 
hours  daily  without  injury  to  himself  or  influence  on 
his  progeny,  and  always  the  effect  of  the  same  work 
on  woman's  reproductive  organs  will  be  torturing  to 
her  and  murderous  to  her  Infants.  Always  wom- 
an's lesser  muscular  strength  and  greater  natural 
need  for  quiet  and  retirement,  especially  at  certain 
periods  each  month,  must  place  her  at  a  disadvantage 
in  comparison  with  man.  Always  nature's  unremit- 
ting, urgent  call  to  woman  to  obey  the  racial  sum- 
mons will  break  up  women's  ranks,  shatter  their 
solidarity  In  Industry  and  render  them  less  able  than 
men  to  combine,  permanently,  for  mutual  defence. 
Always  the  rigour  of  machine  work,  which  must  be 
done  with  the  regularity  and  persistence  of  clock 
work,  will  be  less  suitable  for  woman  than  work  in 
the  home  and  by  hand,  which  may  be  done  irregu- 
larly as  her  capacity  dictates. 

Especially,  and  above   all  else,   always  will  the 


72  FEMINISM 

pains  and  exhaustions  and  anxiety  of  pregnancy  and 
child  bearing  and  baby  tending  vitally  handicap 
mothers  In  Industry  and  push  them  down  to  the  bot- 
tom of  the  Industrial  pit.  To-day,  observers  find 
that  only  the  most  Ul-pald,  precarious  and  arduous 
tasks  are  open  to  those  widows  and  mothers  who 
must  labour  or  starve.  They  must  accept  whatever 
offers  that  Is  near  enough  to  their  homes  to  allow 
them  to  give  some  care,  scant  though  It  may  be,  to 
their  children;  and  the  work  must  be  of  a  sort  that 
can  be  done  without  special  preparation  or  skill,  and 
dropped  periodically  as  domestic  exigencies  dictate. 
So  disagreeable,  unhealthy  or  exhausting  tasks  at 
pitifully  small  wages  fall  to  their  lot.  The  man  In 
their  class  who  Is  eager  for  a  permanent  position, 
may  wander  afar  after  It.  He  may  rise  through  ac- 
quiring skill  by  practice  and  through  long  service; 
but  the  women  have  no  such  opportunity.  The  im- 
perative conditions  of  their  life  forbid  them  to  rise 
in  Industry.  Never  can  they  be  prosperous,  happy, 
contented  and  healthy  In  Industry.  As  well  try  to 
suit  the  northern  winter  climate  to  orange  trees  by 
burning  stoves  in  the  fields  as  try  to  adjust  the  in- 
dustrial climate  to  women  by  enacting  factory  laws. 

With  notable  inconsistency  those  who  at  one  time 
exalt  the  value  of  child  bearing  as  giving  an  equal 
claim  with  the  soldiers  to  a  share  In  government,  at 
another  time  belittle  Its  Importance  and  deny  that  It 
justifies  Immunity  from  wage  labour. 

Ladles  with  a  feminist  mission  write  of  a  possible 


\ 


THE  MOTHER  IN  INDUSTRY        73 

withdrawal  of  the  woman  for  two  or  three  months 
from  professional  tasks  while  she  Is  passing  down 
the  valley  to  the  gates  of  death,  there  to  snatch  a 
fresh  life  and  bring  it  to  earth.  They  shut  their 
eyes  to  the  exhaustions  of  pregnancy,  to  the  exacting 
details  of  Infant  care,  to  the  eternal  vigilance  which 
Is  the  price  of  maternity. 

Even  professional  work,  the  lightest  and  most 
alluring  open  to  women,  Is  Incompatible  with  child 
bearing  and  child  training.  To  suckle  a  baby  for 
two  and  a  half  hours  during  the  day,  and  to  wake  at 
two  and  at  six  during  the  night  to  repeat  the  service, 
does  not  make  for  keen  mental  efficiency  during  the 
following  day.  Peaceful  sleep,  between  times.  Is  not 
certain;  for  the  best-regulated  baby  will  have  Its 
screaming  fits  at  times  and  be  troubled  with  teething 
and  minor  Ills.  Feminists  plead  that  their  wider 
experiences  will  make  them  fitter  mothers  and  en- 
able them  "  to  be  a  greater  joy  and  pleasure  "  to 
their  children.  But  the  well-brought-up  child  would 
be  In  bed  by  the  time  the  professional  mother  reaches 
home.  Child  rearing  Is  so  high  and  valuable  a  thing 
that  to  put  It  on  a  level  with  ribbon  selling  or  legal  . 
pleading  Is  a  degradation.  Child  rearing  is  thep>^ 
noblest  work  an  Intellectual  woman  can  do.  A  child  ' 
can  be  as  much  an  expression  of  a  woman's  person- 
ality as  any  scientific  discovery  or  work  of  art,  and 
It  exacts  as  great  devotion  as  science  or  art. 

How  long  shall  the   remitting  care  of  the  con- 
scientious mother  endure?     One  year,   two  years, 


74  FEMINISM 

three  years?  Six  years?  With  no  woman  to  help 
her  (and  only  one  household  in  ten  can  afford  even 
one  servant)  how  soon  will  the  baby  be  so  far  self- 
caring  as  to  make  it  safe  for  mother  to  desert  it  daily 
for  ten  hours?  In  these  merciful  days,  when  em- 
ployers are  forbidden  under  penalties  to  work 
women  more  than  eight  to  ten  hours  a  day,  Human- 
ism sees  that  it  would  not  put  women  on  an  equality 
with  men  to  arrange  that,  so  soon  as  baby  leaves 
them  free  for  a  few  hours  out  of  the  twenty-four, 
they  shall  take  up  other  wearing  duties.  Mother 
also  is  entitled  to  some  rest  and  change.  She  must 
not  be  treated  as  a  criminal  sentenced  to  hard  la- 
bour. Since,  as  Feminism  admits,  she  is  a  human 
being,  she  must  be  worked  humanely.  So  the  tyr- 
anny of  baby,  endured  gladly  for  love,  must  not  be 
supplemented,  at  the  moment  it  begins  to  moderate, 
by  the  tyranny  of  the  machine  or  of  Mammon.  Al- 
together even  one  baby  Is  a  creative  work  that  ab- 
sorbs more  vital  force  and  utilises  more  executive 
skill  than  a  third-rate  novel  or  a  pettifogging  law 
practice.  It  would  be  cruel  to  demand  that  the 
mother  add  to  that  creative  task  the  routine  drudg- 
ery of  office  or  factory. 

A  minimum  of  three  babies,  and  probably  four, 
on  the  average,  to  every  strong,  fertile  woman  is 
essential  to  keep  the  nation  at  its  present  strength 
and  to  provide  for  slow,  natural  increase,  and  the 
woman  capable  of  contributing  three  children  to  the 
nation  does  not  atone  for  her  neglect  to  reproduce  by 


THE  MOTHER  IN  INDUSTRY        75 

making  the  pile  of  material  goods  a  trifle  higher. 
To  bear  and  give  home  training  to  three  children 
will  employ  a  woman  fully  and  strenuously  for  fif- 
teen to  twenty  years.  From  the  first  pregnancy  un- 
til the  youngest  is  fourteen,  allowing  two  years  be- 
tween consecutive  births,  nearly  nineteen  strenuous 
years  will  pass,  a  full  average  working  lifetime.  If 
the  mother  married  at  twenty-three  to  twenty-five 
she  will  be  forty  to  forty-five  when  the  youngest  of 
her  little  brood  Is  ready  for  high  school;  and  in  a 
wise  family,  In  comfortable  circumstances,  the 
mother  will,  for  some  years  longer,  be  the  valued 
counsellor,  friend  and  guide  of  her  adolescent  young. 
If  she  has  done  her  work  conscientiously  and  skil- 
fully, she  has  displayed  stores  of  patience,  tact, 
knowledge  and  resourcefulness  that  few  lawyers  or 
,  business  men  exhibit.  Her  own  personality  has  been 
developed  to  its  utmost  capacity,  her  body  has  been 
rigorously  trained,  her  mind  kept  alert,  her  char- 
acter .  purified.  And  her  contribution  to  the  real 
wealth  of  the  land  has  been  Immeasurably  greater 
than  the  contribution  of  a  woman  doctor  or  a  school- 
marm,  a  female  attorney  or  a  forewoman.  She  has 
made  the  wealth  to  which  all  other  wealth  is  subor- 
dinate, for  which  all  other  wealth  Is  created.  For 
the  only  ultimate  justification  of  all  material  things 
Is  that  they  contribute  to  the  maintenance  of 
"  healthy,  happy,  bright-eyed  human  beings." 
Without  women  to  create  In  travail  those  human 
beings,  the  rich  store  of  goods  that  pours  from  fac- 


76  FEMINISM 

tory  and  shop  and  is  loaded  on  ship  and  wharf, 
would  be  as  fantastic  a  mockery  as  the  Epicurean 
feast  offered  on  his  last  night  of  life  to  the  con- 
demned murderer  in  his  cell. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
woman's  work  in  the  autumn  of  life 

There  remains  for  consideration  woman's  industrial 
position  in  the  last  period  of  her  life.  This  problem 
does  not  concern  wage-earning  women,  those  who 
have  never  kept  a  servant,  and  who  have  toiled  wear- 
ily for  bare  self-support.  For  them  this  period  is 
never  reached  or  is  pathetically  short.  Exhausted 
by  the  double  burden  of  money  earning  and  child 
bearing,  they  die  early,  for  "  statistics  show  that  the 
mortality  of  working  women  is  higher  than  that  of 
working  men  and  also  higher  than  that  of  other 
women  not  at  work."  ^ 

Those  mothers  in  wage  earners'  homes  whose  lot 
has  been  lighter  and  happier,  because  they  have  not 
been  driven  to  support  themselves  or  their  children, 
are  yet  usually  sucked  empty  of  energy  by  the  time 
the  children  are  off  their  hands.  They  crave  rest 
and  peace,  not  fresh  labour  and  strife.  The  allure- 
ments of  "  economic  independence  "  have  no  attrac- 
tion for  them.  They  have  no  dread  of  "  parasit- 
ism." A  cosy  corner  by  the  fireplace  in  the  house 
of  a  married  child  and  a  chance  to  enjoy  the  prattle 
and  baby  tricks  of  their  grandchildren  is  all  they 
ask.     For  them  but  a  short  span  remains  before  the 

1"  Fatigue  and  Efficiency,"  by  Goldmark,  p.  23. 

17 


78  FEMINISM 

sun  of  their  life  will  sink,  and  neither  woman  suf- 
frage nor  industrial  Feminism  stirs  their  interest. 
They  only  know,  without  a  flicker  of  doubt,  that 
the  days  of  their  life  in  the  home  were  crowded  full 
of  work  and  joy,  that  hfe  without  their  children, 
despite  all  they  cost,  would  have  been  blank  and  flat 
and  meaningless,  and  that  now,  their  life's  task 
ended  and  their  loved  ones  safely  settled,  they  are 
ready  at  any  time  to  obey  the  last  summons  and  to 
chant:  "Lord,  now  lettest  Thou  thy  servant  de- 
part in  peace." 

A  small  proportion  of  women,  less  than  one  m 
ten,  have  led  easy,  quiet  lives,  with  servants  always 
in  their  homes,  with  small  families  to  absorb  their 
vitality,  with  the  most  expert  medical  care  during 
every  sickness  and  with  doting  husbands  who  have 
sheltered  them  from  the  world's  roughest  blasts. 
These  women  populate  women's  clubs.  They  con- 
stitute the  leisured  class  of  America. 

A  convention  of  women's  clubs  Is  noticeably  grey 
haired.  It  Is  composed  In  chief  part  of  women  of 
fifty  and  upwards.  They  have  safely  weathered 
their  physiological  climax,  their  children  are  grown 
up,  their  household  Is  well  organised  and  almost  au- 
tomatic, and  they  overflow  with  superfluous  energy. 
In  the  main,  their  husbands  have  prospered  and  serv- 
ants stand  ready  to  cook  and  scrub  and  wash  and 
dust  In  their  houses.  They  are  capable,  experienced, 
energetic,  and  their  obligatory  duties  do  not  nearly 


IN  THE  AUTUMN  OF  LIFE  79 

exhaust  their  strength.  They  reach  out  for  fresh 
worlds  to  conquer. 

The  arguments  we  have  unfolded  on  previous 
pages  as  to  women  in  industry  do  not  fit  these  robust 
mothers  in  the  autumn  of  life.  They  are  not  justi- 
fying their  seat  at  the  banquet  of  life  any  longer  by 
child  training  and  not  fully  by  homemaking.  How 
shall  they  occupy  their  time  ? 

The  proportion  of  such  women  in  the  population 
increases  as  civilisation  progresses,  and  the  span  of 
life  extends.  Their  presence  is  a  token  of  improv- 
ing conditions.  As  the  art  of  life  is  better  prac- 
tised they  will  multiply.  So  the  problem  of  their 
lives  is  a  problem  of  increasing  importance. 

Such  of  them  as  were  earlier  trained  for  medicine 
or  teaching  may  again  find  openings  where  their  wid- 
ened outlook  on  life,  their  garnered  experience,  will 
be  valued.  Especially  in  women's  colleges  should 
they  find  a  place.  No  woman  should  be  eligible  for 
president  of  a  woman's  college  unless,  by  training 
several  children  of  her  own,  she  has  passed  through 
the  enriching  career  which  would  qualify  her  wisely 
to  influence  younger  women  just  when  they  are  gaz- 
ing with  eyes  of  wonder  into  the  land  of  Romance. 
If  it  became  the  common  custom  for  women  who 
had  been  trained  at  the  expense  of  the  State  as  teach- 
ers themselves  to  teach  their  own  children  they  could 
readily  return  to  teaching  other  people's  children  in 
the  autumn  of  life. 


8o  FEMINISM 

But  industry  does  not  engage  grey  hairs;  Industry 
dismisses  grey  hairs.  So  for  most  retired  mothers 
salaried  opportunities  will  not  open.  But  they  can 
furnish  In  the  national  life  an  altruistic,  refining  ele- 
ment. In  their  homes  they  have  created  use  values, 
not  negotiable  in  bank  or  stock  exchange,  created  in 
love,  offered  without  price.  Now  they  can  display 
the  same  spirit  in  a  wider  field.  Service  for  pay  is 
not  the  noblest  service.  America  needs  a  strong 
corps  of  voluntary  workers  whose  effort  will  not  be 
measured  by  the  check  they  receive  at  the  month's 
end.  The  sordldness  of  industry  may  be  relieved  by 
the  spontaneous  gifts  to  the  community  of  its  aging 
matrons. 

The  ripened  woman  has  full  opportunity,  if  she 
will  but  grasp  it,  to  contribute  to  the  nation's  wel- 
fare. Upon  her  may  well  fall  and  largely  does  fall 
the  work  of  church,  charitable  society,  civic  associa- 
tion and  temperance  league.  So  long  as  there  Is  a 
mother  overwrought  and  sorrowing,  or  a  child  yearn- 
ing to  be  mothered,  these  released  women,  pen- 
sioners from  the  home,  have  a  social  service  at  hand. 
By  private  visiting  and  public  activity  they  can  put 
their  leisure  and  their  talents  to  the  increase  of  the 
common  good.  Themselves  on  the  retired  list  of 
the  home  army,  they  can  yet  volunteer  for  short  time 
fighting  abroad. 

For  the  self-culture  of  these  matrons  the  universi- 
ties, in  an  era  of  Humanism,  would  make  special  pro- 
vision.    They  are  the  real  leisured  class,  who  are  in 


IN  THE  AUTUMN  OF  LIFE  8i 

the  strategic  position  for  valuing  literature,  science 
and  art  for  their  own  sake.  Short  courses,  such  as 
Wisconsin  and  other  universities  already  provide, 
should  be  adapted  to  their  needs,  that,  as  the  forest 
in  autumn  glows  with  Its  brightest  colours,  so  their 
autumnal  minds  may  glow  afresh  In  the  sunlight  of 
new  learning. 

None  of  the  111  results  of  the  higher  education  of 
adolescent  girls  can  overtake  such  mature  students. 
They  are  the  finest  postgraduates,  graduated  from 
the  home,  prepared  to  sip  at  leisure  the  sweets  of 
study  In  academic  shades.  For  ten  to  twenty  years 
they  may  read  and  think  and  converse,  they  may  set 
the  tone  of  society,  create  salons  In  which  the  art 
of  conversation  may  be  revived,  encourage  pains- 
taking art,  appreciate  progressive  drama  and  offer  a 
constituency  for  the  choicest  writers.  It  Is  their 
privilege  to  save  American  life  from  the  blight  of 
materialism. 


CHAPTER  IX 

woman's  economic  value  in  the  home 

That  woman  In  the  home  does  not  earn  her  salt  is 
the  grotesque  charge  made  against  her  by  Feminism, 
a  charge  which  is  the  outcome  of  the  widespread  de- 
lusion that  the  few,  very  few  women,  whose  houses 
are  run  by  servants,  comprise  the  bulk  of  American 
womanhood.  As  to  the  nine-tenths  with  no  serv- 
ant, not  even  a  greenhorn  immigrant,  and  as  to  the 
larger  part  of  the  remaining  tenth,  those  with  one  un- 
trained, exasperating,  unreliable  "  helper,"  the 
charge  is  ludicrous. 

Apart  even  from  woman's  supreme  contribution, 
the  children  of  the  nation,  her  economic  contribution 
in  the  home  is  as  valuable  as  man's  contribution  out- 
side.    She  has  no  reason  to  hang  her  head  in  shame. 

Her  contributions  fall  mainly  in  two  classes,  ( i ) 
as  purchasing  agent  or  consumer,  and  (2)  as  creator 
of  use  values. 

I 

As  purchasing  agent  for  the  home,  woman  con- 
trols most  production  and  deeply  Influences  the  na- 
tional industrial  life.  The  consumer  is  master  of 
the  producer.  Only  what  the  consumer  approves 
can  the  producer  continue  to  produce. 

Hitherto,  In  America,  the  most  skilful  and  vlgor- 

82 


WOMAN'S  ECONOMIC  VALUE        83 

ous  efforts  have  been  directed  to  production.  Sub- 
duing the  wilderness,  and  making  a  continent  habit- 
able, was  a  huge  business  and  has  absorbed  the  na- 
tion's best  energy.  Making  corn  grow  where  before 
wild  grasses  waved,  establishing  mills,  shops  and 
cities  where  the  prairie  wolf  had  roamed,  linking  the 
oceans  together  and  grid-ironing  the  States  with  steel 
highways  - —  all  were  essential,  stimulating,  tremen- 
dous tasks,  demanding  the  nation's  best  strength. 
Comparatively  little  attention  has  been  given  to  the 
problems  of  equitable  distribution;  while  to  the  prob- 
lems of  consumption,  of  the  utilisation  in  the  most 
efficient  way  for  promoting  human  well-being  of  all 
the  stores  of  goods  turned  out,  has  been  given  almost 
no  scientific  consideration. 

Of  this  section  of  the  economic  life  women  are 
mainly  in  charge  because  they  are  the  family  buying 
agents.  To  them  are  addressed  the  pages  of  illus- 
trated and  seductive  advertising,  which  sustain  our 
many,  magazines.  Upon  their  discernment,  judg- 
ment and  good  sense  depends  the  rational  application 
of  most  of  the  masculine  productive  energies. 
Should  women  condemn  breakfast  foods  for  their 
costliness  or  low  nutritive  value,  then  Battle  Creek 
would  languish.  When  women  substitute  fish  for 
meat  on  the  family  menus,  the  Chicago  beef  barons 
are  humbled.  By  an  improvement  in  women's  taste 
some  furniture  houses  are  driven  into  bankruptcy 
and  artistic  craftsmen  made  prosperous.  If  they  af- 
fect "  Oriental "  rugs,  Hoboken  factories  are  flush 


84  FEMINISM 

with  orders  and  Philadelphia  carpet  mills  run  on 
short  time.  When  women  wear  hobble  skirts  and 
-^  skimpy  blouses  silk  houses  face  ruin. 
y  Woman's  preferences,  then,  potently  affect  the  na- 
tional output  of  goods.  Her  expertness  as  purchas- 
ing agent  for  the  homes  of  the  land  touches  the  na- 
tional well-being  as  closely  as  the  expertness  of  the 
producers.  To  do  her  job  properly  she  must  be 
variously  equipped;  she  must  know  something  of 
science,  of  art,  of  commerce,  of  history,  of  law. 
Consider  her  duty  with  respect  to  the  simple  essen- 
tials, food,  clothing  and  housing: 

(a)  Food.  A  good  housewife,  seeing  that  she  no 
longer  bakes  her  bread  or  prepares  her  own  pickles 
and  preserves,  must  be  alert  daily  to  save  her  clients 
from  adulterated  foods  and  drinks.  She  must 
keep  abreast  of  the  literature  on  pure  foods,  an  open 
eye  for  the  announcement  of  state  departments  of 
^food  inspection.  For  her  cakes  and  pies  she  must 
purchase  flour,  not  the  best  advertised  and  most  ex- 
pensive, but  the  most  nutritious  at  the  price.  Her 
verdict  will  settle  whether  the  essential  elements  of 
the  bran  shall  reach  her  children's  stomach  or  be 
sifted  and  bleached  out  of  the  flour  to  suit  the  con- 
i  venlence  of  retailers.  She  must  determine  by  ex- 
I  periment  and  by  Inquiry  which  canned  goods  are 
wholesome,  what  brands  of  tongue  and  ham  and 
chicken  are  untrustworthy.  Of  the  thousand  and 
one  articles  that  come  into  her  home,  she  must  know 
the  properties  and  be  able  to  detect  the  cheaper,  un- 


WOMAN'S  ECONOMIC  VALUE        85 

wholesome  substitutes.  She  must  know  the  fair 
market  prices,  visit  the  stores  personally,  compare 
and  estimate,  figure  and  judge.  With  an  amount 
to  spend  often  too  little  for  her  family's  full  needs, 
her  care  and  prevision  and  knowledge  must  make 
a  dollar  furnish  a  dollar's  worth  of  sustenance,  or 
her  charges  will  not  be  well  nourished.  So  every 
dime  should  be  expended  as  carefully  as  the  business 
man  makes  his  bigger  contracts. 

Women  higher  In  the  social  scale,  with  more  to 
spend,  must  show  as  much  zeal  and  Ingenuity  in  pro- 
ducing more  elaborate  results,  with  menus  carefully 
concocted,  table  service  artistically  devised  and  di- 
gestion scientifically  safeguarded. 

(b)  Clothing.  In  clothing  herself  and  children 
on  the  average  man's  earnings  the  average  woman 
needs  as  much  knowledge,  patience,  cleverness  and 
experience  as  her  helpmeet.  Some  knowledge  of 
fabrics,  a  discerning  acquaintance  with  fashions, 
foresight  to  seize  bargains,  judgment  to  distinguish 
the  real  bargain  from  the  sham  and  skill  to  fashion 
last  year's  raiment  into  next  month's  styles,  can  all 
be  utilised  by  the  mother  In  the  home.  If  she  buys 
cotton  goods  lavishly  southern  planters  rejoice;  if 
she  prefer  shoddy  to  wool,  honest  cloth  weavers 
languish.  If  she  encourage  American  styles.  New 
York  may  supplant  Paris  as  the  birth-place  of  fash- 
ion; If  she  be  extravagant  and  love  the  bizarre  in 
costume,  foreign  cities  may  thrive  on  American  fol- 
lies. 


86  FEMINISM 

(c)  In  the  selection  of  a  home  and  its  furnish- 
ings and  in  the  type  of  surroundings  she  prefers, 
y^  the  American  woman  fixes  the  mould  of  our  civili- 
sation. If  she  prefer  cramped  and  huddled  apart- 
ment or  tenement  to  airy  and  spacious  suburban 
home,  then  cities  grow  ever  more  monstrous  and 
the  national  life  more  hurried  and  nervous.  Her 
taste  tells  in  house  architecture  and  the  colour 
schemes  of  living-rooms.  Her  demand  determines 
whether  open  plumbing  and  ample  closets,  abundant 
bathrooms  and  wide  windows,  shall  make  domestic 
life  more  healthy,  clean,  comfortable  and  refined  for 
the  average  family  to-day  than  it  was  for  the  noble 
two  centuries  ago. 

Few  women  are  able  to  perform  all  these  multi- 
farious and  complicated  duties  as  purchasing  agents 
and  choosers  for  the  family  with  complete  efficiency, 
as  few  men  are  competent  to  farm  or  manufacture 
or   even  operate   one   machine  with  complete   effi- 

^  ciency.  Woman  has  shared  the  national  indif- 
ference to  efficient  consumption.  Only  a  few  moral- 
ists have  inquired  how  best  to  apply  income  to  the 
purchase  of  physical  and  mental  development  and 

well-being.  Thoreau  and  Whitman  have  few  imi- 
tators.    Prodigious    production    and    reckless    con- 

\  sumption  has  been  the  national  plan.  French  thrift 
and  German  household  skill  are  alien  to  native 
American  traditions. 

But  the  comparative  neglect  of  wise  consump- 
tion in  the  past  is  a  poor  excuse  for  abandoning  it 


WOMAN'S  ECONOMIC  VALUE        87 

altogether  in  the  future  by  withdrawing  woman  from 
the  superintendence  of  consumption,  as  Feminism 
proposes,  to  hurl  her  also  into  the  fevered  struggle 
for  greater  production. 

II 

In  the  home  woman  produces  use  values.  In  the 
world  man  produces  exchange  values.  For  ex- 
change values  our  civilisation  has  exaggerated  re- 
spect because  it  has  over-reverence  for  the  dollar 
standard.  But  the  woman's  use  values,  created  and 
consumed  in  the  home,  have  a  real  value  as  high 
as  if  they  were  exchanged  for  cash.  And  for  large 
part  of  them  no  cash  could  pay. 

A  trained  nurse,  paid  twenty-five  dollars  a  week, 
appreciates  that  her  labour  has  an  exchange  value, 
and  her  services  are  reckoned  by  statisticians  among 
the  national  wealth.  But  the  mother  who  nurses 
her  baby  back  to  health  or  pulls  her  husband  through 
an  attack  of  grippe,  though  she  is  paid  no  fee,  has 
created  a  use  value  just  as  promotive  of  well-being, 
as  much  real  wealth  as  the  paid  nurse.  And  every 
day  the  women  in  homes  are  creating  use  values 
which,  if  expressed  in  money  terms  like  exchange 
values,  would  be  measured  by  many  millions  of  dol- 
lars. What  is  the  worth  of  their  services  in  get- 
ting ready  the  nation's  children  for  school,  in 
binding  up  all  their  little  hurts,  in  comforting  their 
hearts  lacerated  with  their  small  but  so  serious  woes, 
in  cooking  and  serving  their  dinners  and  suppers, 


88  FEMINISM 

In  mending  and  patching  their  torn  garments  and  in 
tucking  them  cosily  away  to  bed.  These  countless, 
invaluable,  indispensable  services  are  rendered  with- 
out money  and  without  price,  but  who  shall  calcu- 
late their  worth?  What  if  they  be  not  counted  in 
the  statistics  of  the  nation's  wealth?  What  if  the 
census  bureau,  with  grim  humour,  reckons  not  the 
home  keeping  mother  as  engaged  In  a  *'  gainful  oc- 
cupation "  ? 

*  Her  price  Is  far  above  rubies 
The  heart  of  her  husband  doth  safely  trust  in  her, 
Strength  and  honor  are  her  clothing; 
She  shall  rejoice  in  time  to  come." 

Feminism  decries  these  unpaid  services  and 
would  obliterate  them.  It  considers  nothing  of 
worth  which  fetches  no  price.  It  would  commer- 
cialise home  life  and  degrade  it  to  the  moral  level 
of  factory  life.  It  would  set  a  cash  value  on  the 
services  of  wife  and  mother,  and  transfer  them  to 
'  hirelings. 

While  It  might  conceivably  appraise  In  dollars  and 
cents  the  coarser,  more  routine  services  In  the  home 
—  the  scrubbing  and  washing  and  cleaning  and  cook- 
ing —  letting  these  out  to  peripatetic  gangs  of  work- 
ers, how  could  the  finer,  tenderer,  most  estimable 
use  values  be  figured  In  any  tariff?  Something  like 
this  would  be  needed: 

\        To  caressing  baby   $  .10 

^      To  one  morning  kiss  to  husband 25 


WOMAN'S  ECONOMIC  VALUE        89 

To  cheering  up  little  Mary .15 

To  lying  awake  scheming  how  to  send  Alice 

to   college    1 .00 

To  radiating  affection  for  one  week 2.00 

To  being  patient  under  a  cloud  of  difficulties  1.75 
To  loving  husband  and  wayward  son  when 

they  don't  deserve  loving how  much  ? 

Next  a  league  of  mothers,  with  rules  against 
working  overtime  for  children  and  fathers,  and  dou- 
ble piece  rates  for  night  work,  that  baby  may  prop- 
erly remunerate  mother  when  It  wakes  her  In  fret- 
fulness  or  pain,  would  bring  this  commercialising  of 
home  service  nearer  the  feminist  Ideal  of  "  Noth- 
ing rendered  for  love,  a  stipulated  price  for  every 
sacrifice." 

Feminism  Is  the  acme  not  only  of  anarchistic  In- 
dividualism but  of  gross  materialism.  It  would 
stifle  the  home  spirit  with  the  mephltic  air  of  petty 
peddling.  It  would  calculate  to  a  nicety  the  cash 
value  of  a  heart  pang  and  measure  In  dollars  the 
worth  of  a  mother's  love. 

Some  wives,  while  not  anxious  to  leave  their 
homes  in  pursuit  of  a  salary,  complain  pitifully  that 
their  Inestimable  services  as  mothers  ani  homemak- 
ers  go  unrewarded  In  money  and  every  cent  they 
need  for  themselves,  for  dress,  for  education,  for 
philanthropy,  Is  grudgingly  doled  out  by  the  hus- 
band, who  must  be  teased,  coaxed  and  wheedled  for 
each  dollar.  That  condition  Is  as  grievous  as  It  is 
rare. 


90 


FEMINISM 


In  the  overwhelming  majority  of  homes,  where 
the  husband  earns  a  weekly  wage,  the  contents  of 
'  the  pay  envelope  are  handed  ovfr  to  the  wife,  re- 
duced only  by  a  moderate  allowance  for  the  man's 
tobacco  and  sundries.  In  the  richest  homes  the 
wife  possesses  usually  an  independent  fortune.  But, 
occasionally,  especially  when  the  costly  home  and 
luxurious  wife,  in  Veblen's  phrase,  are  "  expendi- 
\  tures  of  display,''  maintained  by  a  newly  rich  man 
in  high  style  as  a  public  exhibition  of  his  prosperity, 
the  husband  fails  to  recognise  any  reason  why  the 
wife  should  not  be  satisfied  to  enjoy  the  luxuries  he 
provides,  at  a  cost  beyond  her  economic  value  as 
housekeeper,  without  demanding  from  him  money 
of  her  own  to  expend.  In  other  instances  the  wife, 
unused  to  handling  money  or  incapable  of  restrain- 
ing within  bounds  her  mania  for  spending,  ruins  the 
easy-going  husband  who  allows  her  a  free  hand. 

No  public  action,  no  law,  can  cure  these  unfortu- 
nate defects. 

A  marriage  is  a  close  partnership,  closer  than  any 
\  business  partnership,  in  which  the  business  side  is 
subordinate.  In  nine  cases  out  of  ten  affection  and 
common  sense  dictate  an  agreement,  on  matters 
financial,  satisfactory  to  both  partners.  They  have 
taken  each  other  "  for  better  or  worse,  in  riches 
or  poverty."  They  would  resent  any  legal  dicta- 
tion of  the  proportion  of  the  family  Income  which 
the  wife  shall  handle,  any  arrangement  which,  mak- 
ing the  man  the  woman's  formal  paymaster,  would 


/ 


WOMAN'S  ECONOMIC  VALUE        91 

necessarily  give  him  a  right  to  define  her  services. 
Only  a  policy  of  give  and  take,  of  mutual  forbear- 
ance and  consideration,  can  make  the  marriage  suc- 
cessful. If  the  bride  has  any  misgivings  she  may 
reasonably  ask  for  an  agreement  before  going  to  the 
altar  as  to  her  own  allowance  as  wife;  but  so  com- 
plex and  changeable  are  family  conditions  that  usu- 
ally no  agreement  will  prove  for  long  workable 
and  satisfactory.  Rarely  on  either  side  will  legal 
compulsion  force  more  than  affection  will  give. 
However,  an  agreement  will  solidify  the  Idea  that 
some  reasonable  amount  should  be  the  wife's  own 
and  any  man  who  Is  slow  to  appreciate  her  right  may 
well  be  educated  in  that  fashion. 

But  no  allowance  by  the  husband  will  satisfy  those 
feminist  leaders  who  seek  complete  escape  from 
housekeeping  and  solemnly  avow,  In  the  words  of 
one  of  them:  "  It  Is  the  greatest  source  of  great- 
est evil  that  love  and  money  have  been  forced  to- 
gether- by  making  women  dependent  on  men." 
*'  The  men  own  all  the  money,"  avers  Mrs.  Char- 
lotte Perkins  Oilman,  "  and,  owning  all  the  money, 
they  hold  the  whip  hand  over  us."  The  truth 
of  the  statement  will  be  promptly  recognised  by  that 
overwhelming  proportion  of  American  men  who 
are  working  arduously,  without  respite,  that  their 
wives,  with  the  money  earned,  may  be  kept  under 
the  lash!!  So  women  should  cast  off  the  chains  of 
home  and  go  after  the  dollars  in  the  free  outside. 
It  Is  so  much  nicer  to  wheedle  or  tease  an  employer 


/; 


\ 


92  FEMINISM 

for  a  job  than  to  ask  a  husband  for  the  cost  of  a 
new  hat,  so  much  "  freer  "  to  thump  a  typewriter 
or  stand  In  pain  behind  a  counter  and  to  beg 
some  brutal  or  Indifferent  manager  to  give  you  a 
raise  of  a  dollar  a  week  because  "  a  woman  can't 
live  decently  on  seven  dollars  "  than  to  share  the 

\  earnings  of  the  man  you  love  and  return  in  serv- 
ice for  him  and  children  the  worth  of  all  you  con- 
sume I  Money  earned  in  mill  or  store  is  sanctified, 
forsooth,  while  money  earned  In  nursery  or  kitchen, 

\  unless  somebody  else's  nursery  or  kitchen.  Is  ac- 
cursed. Naturally,  a  woman  usurer  who  heaps  up 
a  fortune  in  Wall  Street  that  the  men  may  no  longer 
"  own  all  the  money  "  deserves  veneration;  while  the 
mother  of  Lincoln  who,  "  dependent  on  men," 
merely  bore  and  reared,  under  heaviest  handicap, 
the  saviour  of  his  country,  was  an  example  of  slavish 
subordination  to  be  abhorred!  Make  all  women 
earn  their  daily  bread,  anywhere  so  long  as  it  Is  not 
in  the  home,  and  woman's  emancipation  will  arrive  1 
Such  purblind  confusion  of  shadow  and  substance 
needs  only  to  be  Indicated  to  be  repudiated.  It  fas- 
cinates mainly  that  insignificant  minority  of  wives 
who,  too  feeble  or  Inexpert  to  master  their  job  at 
home  and  too  Inexperienced  to  know  the  difficulty 
of  wresting  a  living  from  the  world  outside,  delude 
themselves  with  roseate  dreams  of  how  fine  It  would 
be  to  cast  off  the  duties  which  irk  them  and  to  re- 
ceive a  handsome  monthy  check  for  pleasant,  unde- 

^    fined  duties  which  they  have  never  tried. 


CHAPTER  X 

EQUAL   PAY   FOR   MEN   AND   WOMEN 

It  Is  a  cherished  doctrine  of  Feminism  that  women 
shall  receive  equal  remuneration  with  men  for  filling 
the  same  positions.  "  Equal  Pay  for  Equal  Work  " 
or  *'  Pay  for  Position,"  this  claim  has  been  cleverly 
baptised.  At  the  annual  convention  of  the  National 
American  Woman  Suffrage  Association,  In  19 14, 
the  following  resolution  was  adopted:  "That  all 
women  be  urged  to  encourage  such  Industries  and  in- 
stitutions as  adhere  to  the  principle  of  *  equal  pay  for 
equal  work  regardless  of  sex.'  " 

Both  in  America  and  In  England  the  average 
wages  of  adult  women  are  but  half  the  average 
wages  of  men  In  private  employment;  and  In  public 
employment,  with  rare  exceptions,  women  are  paid 
less  than  men.  Feminism  laments  this  Inequality 
and  purposes  to  utilise  the  votes  of  women  to  rectify 
It.  "  Women  are  equal  to  men,"  It  protests,  "  and 
should  be  paid  the  same  as  men  for  filling  the  same 
positions.  We  mean  to  abolish  sex  discriminations 
In  politics.  In  law.  In  Industry,  and  one  of  the  first 
points  to  be  attacked  when  we  get  the  vote  will  be 
this  Inequality  of  remuneration." 

For  the  sake  of  clearness  we  will  consider  this 
programme  In  its  application  (a)  to  manual  work- 

93 


94  FEMINISM 

ers,  (b)  to  brain  workers  in  private  employment, 
and  (c)  to  public  employes. 

"  Equal  Pay  for  Equal  Work  "  assumes  that  the 
work  can  be  measured  and  the  pay  proportioned  to 
the  amount  done.  In  cotton  spinning,  coal  mining, 
garment  making,  printing  and  many  other  manual 
occupations,  such  measurement  can  be  made,  and 
piece  rates  are  set  under  which  the  wages  received 
are  exactly  proportioned  to  the  amount  accom- 
plished. When  men  hold  such  industries  and 
women  threaten  to  invade  them,  the  men  often  in- 
sist enthusiastically  on  "  Equal  Pay  for  Equal 
Work."  Not,  however,  sad  to  tell,  because  in  their 
gallantry  they  wish  tO'  see  women  put  on  an  indus- 
trial equality  with  themselves ;  but  because  they  real- 
ise that  if  they  compel  the  employer  to  pay  women 
at  the  same  rate  as  men  only  an  odd  woman  here 
and  there  will  be  employed  at  all. 

The  American  Telegraphers'  Union  upholds  this 
principle  doggedly,  with  the  consequence  that  women 
are  not  employed  as  telegraphers,  even  In  those  po- 
sitions which  in  England  are  successfully  filled  by 
women,  and  though  in  the  analogous  work  of  tele- 
phone operating  women  have  almost  a  monopoly. 
Forbidden  to  engage  women  at  smaller  wages,  em- 
ployers are  glad  to  find  enough  men,  ready  at  the 
wages  offered,  to  endure  the  strain  and  the  respon- 
sibility and  the  night  work  Involved  In  telegraphy. 

When  the  linotype  machine  was  introduced,  the 
typographical  union  of  the  compositors  in  America 


EQUAL  PAY  95 

was  in  imminent  risk  of  seeing  the  well-paid  work 
of  straight  composing  by  hand  transferred  to  worse- 
paid  women  at  the  machine.  But,  by  establishing  a 
rule,  in  co-operation  with  the  employers*  associa- 
tion, that  the  first  opportunity  to  learn  to  work  the 
linotype  machines  should  be  given  to  printers  al- 
ready competent  on  skilled  sorts  of  hand  work, 
work  which  women  were  not  accomplishing,  the  men 
reserved  the  machines  for  themselves,  while  still 
applauding  "  equal  pay  for  equal  work.'* 

In  cases  where  women  are  engaged  in  consider- 
able numbers  at  the  same  piece-work  rates  as  men, 
as  in  the  English  cotton  mills,  the  output  of  the 
woman  is  less  than  the  output  of  the  man,  and  the 
small  minority  of  men  usually  work  on  the  heavier 
class  of  looms.  The  woman's  remuneration  is 
therefore  less.  Rarely,  indeed,  do  women  any- 
where work  at  the  same  processes  as  men.  Almost 
always,  even  when  men  and  women  work  under  the 
same  roof,  they  work  at  different  processes.  When 
the  process  demands  muscular  strength  and  physical 
endurance,  it  is  allotted  to  men;  when  it  demands 
light-fingered  dexterity,  nimbleness  and  routine  pa- 
tience, it  is  allotted  to  women. 

In  steam  laundries,  where  women  are  in  a  ma- 
jority, labour  at  the  machines  in  the  laundry  wash- 
rooms is  done  by  men.  In  a  cotton-thread  mill  in 
which  one-third  of  the  employes  are  women,  an  in- 
vestigator found  that  the  processes  of  cleaning, 
carding,  combing,  drawing  and  roving  are  done  by 


96  FEMINISM 

men.  Then  women  speeders  tend  the  last  part,  the 
twisting  and  winding.  Their  product  is  forwarded 
by  boys  to  the  women  spinners  who,  in  turn,  pass  on 
the  half-completed  cotton  to  women  spoolers.  In 
the  twisting  and  plying  of  the  cotton,  processes  suc- 
ceeding the  spooling,  men  are  employed,  who,  in 
turn,  send  on  the  yarn  they  produce  to  the  girls  in 
the  winding  room.  Within  the  one  mill  there  is  a 
complete  division  of  labour  between  men  and 
women. ^ 

In  a  New  England  cloth  finishing  factory  reported 
upon  by  a  special  investigator,  the  first  process  at 
which  women  are  employed  is  that  of  keeping  cloth 
running  evenly  through  a  teetering  machine.  At 
the  calendering  machines  men  are  employed.  Girls 
stand  at  the  yarding  machines  and  do  most  of  the 
succeeding  processes  of  preparation.  In  one  proc- 
ess, the  tearing  of  wide  cloth  into  lengths,  the  in- 
vestigator found  that  the  task  was  severe  for  the 
muscles  of  the  hand  and  forearm,  and  apt  to  cause 
swollen  fingers  and  sprained  wrists.  Thereupon, 
the  management,  unusually  humane,  transferred  the 
work  of  tearing  to  men.  The  grievance  of  the 
girls'  strained  wrists  and  swollen  fingers  could  be 
remedied,  not  by  giving  them  men's  wages,  but  by 
setting  men  at  men's  wages  to  do  the  heavier  work. 
All  the  remaining  operations  on  sheets  and  pillow 
cases  were  done  by  men. 

In   cotton  mills,   heavy  mule   spmning  is   exclu- 

1 "  Making  Both  Ends  Meet,"  by  Clark  and  Wyatt,  p.  250. 


EQUAL  PAY  97 

sively  done  by  men,  but  lighter  ring  spinning  by 
women.  Temporarily,  as  in  woollen  mills,  the  low- 
est-grade, immigrant,  male  labour  may  work  at  the 
same  processes  as  women,  because  the  men  will  ac- 
cept the  women's  rate  of  pay.  But  a  stratification 
soon  commences  and,  before  long,  men  and  women 
are  working  in  different  rooms  at  different  processes. 

In  domestic  service  a  Japanese  boy  is  paid  more 
than  a  Bohemian  girl  and  undertakes  jobs  more  nu- 
merous and  in  greater  variety.  A  butler  is  a  man; 
a  chambermaid  a  woman.  Waiters  and  waitresses 
are  not  paid  alike,  and  a  hotel  at  which  waiters  and 
waitresses  serve  together  in  the  same  dining-room 
would  be  an  anomaly.  A  man  chef  must  be  master 
of  more  epicurean  concoctions  than  a  woman  cook 
and  his  salary  is  superior. 

Only  in  odd  cases,  then,  is  the  cry  "  Equal  Pay 
for  Equal  Work  "  relevant  to  any  situation  exist- 
ing among  female  wage  earners,  the  millions  of  pri- 
vates in  the  army  of  women  engaged  in  gainful  oc- 
cupations. 

In  the  lower  grades  of  professional  brain  work- 
ers, the  segregation  of  men  and  women  is  not  so 
distinct,  though  there  also  it  appears.  Stenogra- 
phers and  typists  are  nearly  all  females ;  but  court  ste- 
nographers, most  expert  and  highly  paid,  are  usually 
men.  A  secretary  or  a  social  worker  may  be  man 
or  woman;  but  when  the  employing  organisation 
fixes  a  high  salary  for  the  position  it  usually  seeks 
a  man.     A  charity  organisation  society  or  a  public 


98  FEMINISM 

education  association  may  be  content  with  a  woman 
secretary  in  its  early  days  of  struggle  and  small 
budgets,  but  so  soon  as  its  funds  and  its  sphere  gain 
high  dignity  it  marks  its  superior  elevation  by  en- 
gaging a  man  secretary,  at  a  man's  salary.  Women 
store  clerks  are  in  a  majority,  but  men  store  clerks, 
at  higher  wages,  are  also  employed. 

Positions  of  this  order  are  but  roughly  classified 
and  have  no  standard  rates.  To  adjust  work  to 
pay  on  an  abstract  principle  of  equality  between 
millions  of  males  and  females  In  these  positions  is 
not  feasible,  because  between  the  individuals  in  dif- 
ferent positions  there  is  no  such  adjustment.  It  is 
impossible  to  say  when  increased  responsibility, 
knowledge,  and  experience  and  personality  warrant  a 
higher  salary  for  the  post  of  social  worker  or  secre- 
tary, much  less  to  say  that  the  capacities  which  a 
man  brings  are  worth  precisely  as  much  as  the 
capacities  which  a  woman  brings  to  the  work. 
Whether  in  any  case  the  smaller  remuneration  of  the 
woman  is  given  merely  because  she  is  a  woman  or 
because  the  man  contributes  more  valuable  qualities 
to  the  work,  it  Is  impossible  to  determine.  The  for- 
mula "  Equal  Pay  for  Equal  Work  "  is  again  not 
relevant  to  the  concrete  situation.  It  Is  a  useless  ab- 
straction. 

In  law,  medicine,  art,  literature  and  the  church, 
conditions  and  salaries  vary,  to  the  widest  extent, 
according  to  the  standing  of  the  practitioner  and 
the  wealth  of  the  client.     A  Caruso  receives  thou- 


EQUAL  PAY  99 

sands  of  dollars  for  singing  an  opera.  An  inferior 
singer  might  be  glad  to  get  fifty.  They  sing  the 
same  notes  and  make  equal  exertions,  but  there 
is  no  thought  of  giving  them  "  equal  pay  for  equal 
work."  A  lawyer  who  receives  a  quarter  million 
dollar  fee  from  a  railroad  corporation,  or  a  sur- 
geon who  is  paid  fifty  thousand  dollars  for  remov- 
ing a  millionaire's  appendix,  may  do  less  work  than 
a  woman  attorney  who  sues  the  railroad  for  smash- 
ing a  trunk,  or  a  woman  doctor  who  pulls  a  labour- 
er's child  through  an  attack  of  fever.  It  may  cost 
a  woman  preacher  more  labour  to  prepare  her  ser- 
mon for  a  village  congregation  than  an  eminent  di- 
vine to  prepare  his  sermon  for  the  city  cathedral, 
but  the  dogma,  "  Equal  Pay  for  Equal  Work,"  is  no 
more  useful  for  fixing  the  remuneration  for  such 
services  than  an  almanac  platitude  in  measuring  the 
distance  of  a  fixed  star.  Woman's  struggle  in  these 
spheres  is  to  be  retained  at  any  price.  Quality  of 
work  is  the  prime  requisite.  She  must  win,  not  by 
underselling  but  by  superior  service. 

All  through  private  employment,  therefore,  the 
doctrine  "  Pay  for  Position  "  or  "  Equal  Pay  for 
Equal  Work  "  for  men  and  women  has  the  most 
trifling  connection  with  real  life. 

But  in  public  employment  a  different  rule  pre- 
vails. Remuneration  is  not  fixed  by  economic  com- 
petition. 

Permanent  positions  In  the  public  service  are  of 
two  orders :     ( i )    Positions  exempt  from  civil  serv- 


loo  FEMINISM 

ice  regulations,  and  (2)  positions  in  the  classified 
service,  those  under  civil  service  rules. 

I.  Public  positions  exempt  from  civil  service  con- 
ditions are  filled  by  appointment  and  usually,  in  part, 
even  where  impeccable  reformers  hold  the  offices,  as 
a  reward  for  political  services.  To  them  "  Pay  for 
Position  "  already  applies.  If  a  senator  appoints 
his  daughter  as  his  private  secretary  he  is  allowed 
exactly  the  same  salary  for  her  (whether  or  not  he 
hands  it  over  to  her)  as  he  would  if  he  appointed 
his  nephew  or  his  son.  A  woman  commissioner  of 
charities  is  paid  as  much  as  a  man  commissioner  of 
charities;  a  woman  superintendent  of  schools  as  a 
man  superintendent  of  schools.  Discrimination  is 
shown  in  the  proportion  of  men  and  women  ap- 
pointed. Probably  in  this  group  of  positions  more 
women  would  be  discovered  to  be  fit  for  the  jobs  if 
women  voted;  especially  to  the  lower  places  in 
counties  and  States  where  civil  service  rules  are  not 
in  force  and  positions  go  by  political  favour,  a 
greater  number  of  women,  if  they  had  votes,  could 
establish  a  claim  as  district  workers. 

But  equality  of  opportunity  for  appointment 
would  not  ensure  equality  of  service  between  men 
and  women.  When  appointment  is  made  as  a  re- 
ward for  political  activity,  the  incumbent,  whether 
man  or  woman,  is  frequently,  alas !  unfitted  for  the 
post.  Though  in  special  cases  it  would  be  impos- 
sible for  any  human  being  to  be  less  competent  than 
the  male  incumbent  of  political  office,  yet,  on  the 


EQUAL  PA^;. J  10 1 

average,  the  service  of  women  politicians  will  be 
still  less  efficient  than  the  service  of  men  politicians, 
because,  on  the  average,  women  are  less  fitted  for  in- 
dustrial work  than  men,  as  is  shown  by  their  fail- 
ure in  private  employment  to  command  the  same  sal- 
aries as  men.  For  the  protection  of  the  public  in- 
terest pay  should  be  proportioned  to  service,  not 
fixed  for  one  grade  of  service  and  paid  for  a  lower 
grade  of  service,  even  if  the  title  of  the  holder  of 
the  office  remains  the  same. 

2.  Under  civil  service  rules  positions  are  filled 
by  competitive  examination,  the  salary  being  deter- 
mined before  the  examination  is  held.  If  the  salary 
schedule  makes  no  mention  of  sex,  women  can  win 
the  opportunity  of  receiving  equal  pay  with  men 
for  the  same  position  by  securing  admission  to  the 
examination  —  as  they  did  in  New  York  City  when 
they  were  threatened  with  exclusion  from  competi- 
tion for  superintendents*  positions  in  the  employ- 
ment bureaus. 

If  the  salary  schedule,  like  nature,  distinguishes 
between  men  and  women,  as  most  schedules  for 
school  teachers  have  done,  then  the  women  may  pro- 
cure elimination  of  the  sex  distinction  by  legisla- 
tion or  by  pressure  upon  the  administrative  body 
concerned,  the  board  of  education,  or  the  city  gov- 
ernment, as  did  the  women  teachers  of  New  York 
City.  In  that  case  the  outcome  will  be  the  composi- 
tion of  two  forces:  the  public  officiaFs  always  sen- 
sitive desire  to  be  personally  popular;  and  his  fear 


10^2     ''"'■'.■'^i'^.^^' FEMINISM 

of  driving  the  taxpayer  to  a  revolt,  which  would 
throw  the  official  himself  into  the  penurious  shades 
of  private  life.  Political  conditions,  not  economic 
necessity,  will  control.  When  the  demand  is  that 
women,  equally  with  men,  shall  be  admitted  to  the 
competitive  examinations,  the  passing  of  which  en- 
titles the  competitor  to  appointment,  only  the  most 
obvious  unfitness  of  women  for  the  position  is  likely 
to  lead  to  the  denial  of  the  demand,  because  the  pub- 
lic outcry  which  a  hundred  women  can  make  dis- 
turbs the  equanimity  of  the  legislative  authority 
more  than  any  fear  for  the  inadequate  perform- 
ance of  the  duties  involved.  One  newspaper  arti- 
cle denouncing  the  legislature  for  its  refusal  of 
"  the  claim  for  consideration  on  the  part  of  the  de- 
voted women  of  the  community,"  will  have  greater 
weight  than  the  sure  expectation  that  a  woman  will 
not  discharge  the  duties  as  capably  as  a  man.  The 
legislator  who  opens  the  position  to  women  is  not 
the  executive  officer  who  Is  responsible  for  the  effi- 
cient discharge  of  the  duties.  Once  the  sex  differ- 
ence Is  ignored  in  the  requirements  for  candidates, 
the  appointing  power  must  take  the  persons  at  the 
top  of  the  eligible  list,  regardless  of  sex.  Thus,  the 
public,  the  real  employer,  acting  through  its  agent, 
the  executive  official,  will  be  denied  the  opportunity 
to  choose  between  a  man  and  a  woman,  as  every  pri- 
vate employer  chooses. 

Sex  being  eliminated  from   civil  service  salary 


EQUAL  PAY  103 

schedules,  on  what  principles  shall  the  amount  of  the 
salary  be  set? 

Numerous  factors  must  be  considered  —  the  qual- 
ity of  the  person  necessary  to  do  the  work  efficiently, 
the  education  and  special  training  required,  the  pre- 
vailing rate  of  remuneration  for  similar  services  in 
private  employment,  the  state  of  the  public  treas- 
ury, the  probable  supply  of  competent  candidates 
and  the  cost  of  living.  Democratic  governments 
must  offer  a  living  wage,  the  style  of  living  consid- 
ered proper  being  the  style  prevalent  In  the  social 
stratum  In  which  It  Is  desired  that  the  successful 
competitors  will  move.  A  college  professor  Is  of- 
fered more  than  a  street  cleaner,  partly  because  he 
cannot  do  his  work  efficiently  unless  he  enjoys  more 
comforts  and  leisure  and  can  pay  for  more  books, 
music,  travel  and  the  like  than  are  necessary  to  the 
full  discharge  of  a  street  cleaner's  duties.  Also  the 
persons  competent  to  lecture  in  colleges  are  less 
easily  obtained,  even  in  the  best-educated  commu- 
nity, than  persons  competent  to  clean  streets. 

Both  these  factors  —  the  supply  of  competent 
candidates  and  the  living  wage  —  the  doctrine  of 
*'  Equal  Pay  for  Men  and  Women ''  would  abro- 
gate. 

As  is  demonstrated  by  the  outstanding  fact  that 
men's  wages  average  double  women's  wages  In  pri- 
vate employment,  the  supply  of  women  able  and 
willing  to  fill  industrial  positions  open  to  women 


104  FEMINISM 

Is  greater  than  the  supply  of  men.  Men  willing  to 
be  teachers  are  much  rarer  than  women  of  the  same 
competence;  men  typists  are  not  so  easily  found  as 
women  typists  of  like  order  of  skill.  Men  cotton 
spinners  willing  to  accept  low  wages  are  not  as 
common  as  women  cotton  spinners.  Only  by  Ignor- 
ing this  difference  of  supply  and  demand,  by  shut- 
ting eyes  to  the  fact  that  a  man  In  the  open  market 
has  a  greater  scarcity  value  than  a  woman,  can  "  Pay 
for  Position  "  be  established. 

More  important,  however,  Is  the  principle  of  the 
living  wage.  Democratic  governments  are  be- 
sought by  reformers  and  humane  taxpayers  to  be 
model  employers,  not  to  pay  the  lowest  wage  for 
which  service  can  possibly  be  bought,  but  gener- 
ously to  set  a  minimum  of  a  living  wage  for  every 
occupation.  That  appeal  each  year  Is  more  and 
more  widely  recognised  to  be  well  based.  One  fac- 
tor that  must  enter  Into  the  determination  of  re- 
muneration Is  the  need  of  the  employe.  Ideally, 
every  employe,  manual,  mental  or  artistic,  should  re- 
ceive a  sufficient  reward  to  keep  his  powers  and  skill 
at  their  maximum  efficiency.  Never  should  health, 
strength,  skill  or  power  of  application  be  reduced 
through  financial  Inability  to  live  so  as  to  preserve 
them  in  full  vigour.  Never  will  the  nation  reach 
Its  maximum  productivity  until  every  worker  Is  as- 
sured of  this  remuneration  for  life,  every  producer 
kept  as  studiously  efficient  as  the  Japanese  keep  their 
soldiers  In  their  wars.,    A  teacher  whose  salary  is 


EQUAL  PAY  105 

too  meagre  for  her  to  study,  travel  and  mix  with 
refined  people,  cannot  teach  effectively.  The  street 
cleaner  who  cannot  afford  three  nourishing  meals 
a  day  will  push  his  broom  languidly.  A  clerk  in  a 
city  office  who  must  live,  on  his  beggarly  Income,  in 
a  dark  tenement  and  sacrifice  week-end  jaunts  into 
the  country,  will  make  errors  in  his  bookkeeping 
and  never  devise  ways  to  Improve  his  office  routine. 
Government  authorities  in  the  United  States  are 
alive  to  these  considerations  and  usually  pay  better 
salaries  than  private  employers. 

However,  what  constitutes  a  living  wage?  When 
sex  is  considered  in  framing  salary  schedules,  a  man's 
living  wage  means  a  family's  living  wage  and  a 
woman's  living  wage  an  individual  wage. 

The  social  importance  of  this  factor  grows  each 
year  as  public  control  of  industry  increases.  Every 
case  of  public  ownership  of  an  electric  power  sys- 
tem, a  street  railway  system,  a  water  power  plant, 
or  a  milk  supply,  and  every  legal  wage  board  estab- 
lished, increases  the  social  significance,  of  the  prin- 
ciple on  which  a  living  wage  Is  determined.  Mini- 
mum wages  for  women  workers  in  various  callings, 
now  being  fixed  by  law  in  Massachusetts,  Washing- 
ton, Oregon,  Colorado  and  other  States,  are  uni- 
formly determined  by  estimating  the  cost  of  a  de- 
cent living  for  an  individual  woman. 

When  sex  is  eliminated  from  consideration,  shall 
a  woman's  living  wage  also  be  made  a  family  wage, 
or  a  man's  wage  be  reduced  below  a  family  wage? 


io6  FEMINISM 

''  Make  the  woman's  wage  equal  to  the  man's,"  or- 
der the  interested  associations;  "if  you  must  re- 
duce the  man's  so  much  the  worse  for  him;  but  it  is 
not  my  concern.  Raise  the  woman's  until  it  meets 
the  man's  and  I  shall  be  content."  These  were  the 
orders  of  the  New  York  women  teachers  regard- 
ing teachers'  salaries  —  orders  which  the  legisla- 
ture faithfully  executed.  Suspicion  that  the  legal 
minimum  wage  fixed  for  women  will  become  in  prac- 
tice the  maximum  wage  for  men  in  the  same  indus- 
try, inspires  the  American  Federation  of  Labor 
with  distrust  of  the  fast-spreading,  minimum  wage 
movement.  Whether  that  suspicion  will  be  justi- 
fied will  depend  on  the  success  of  Feminism  in  con- 
trolling legislatures  and  industrial  courts.  Trade 
unionism  has  argued  for  the  family  wage  as  the 
man's  wage.  When  it  presents  to  arbitration 
courts  its  plea  for  higher  wages  to  follow  the  in- 
creased cost  of  living,  as  it  did  in  the  several  cases 
of  the  railroad  engineers  and  the  railroad  conduc- 
tors and  brakemen,  it  consistently  argues  from  the 
cost  of  family  living.  Were  its  case  founded  on 
the  cost  of  living  for  the  individual  employe,  it 
would  hopelessly  crumble.  Therein  trade  union- 
ism Is  inherently  antagonistic  to  the  woman's  de- 
mands; for  "Equal  Pay  for  Men  and  Women" 
cannot  conceivably  mean  a  family  wage  for  men  and 
for  women  throughout  industry.  In  private  em- 
ployment the  family  wage  for  men  may  be  abro- 
gated; but  a  family  wage  for  women  Is  economically 


EQUAL  PAY  107 

impossible.  It  Is  self-evldently  absurd  to  expect  that 
a  store  clerk,  on  attaining  her  majority,  will  be  paid 
enough  to  sustain  herself,  a  husband  and  three  chil- 
dren. Equality  must  mean  degradation  of  men's 
wages. 

Whether,  for  public  employment,  the  woman's 
salary  will  be  raised  to  the  man's  level  or  his  re- 
duced to  approach  her  level,  will  depend  on  the  cir- 
cumstances of  each  case.  In  employments,  such  as 
teaching,  where  the  women  outnumber  the  men  ten 
or  twelve  to  one,  as  they  did  In  New  York  City,  the 
financial  cost  of  making  the  woman's  salary  a  family 
salary  Is  so  appalling  that  the  most  reckless  legis- 
lators, though  themselves  not  responsible  to  the  tax- 
payers concerned,  cannot  face  It.  In  New  York 
City  a  compromise  was  made.  Under  the  old  salary 
schedule  a  woman  class  teacher  was  paid  a  minimum 
of  $600  a  year,  rising  by  annual  Increments  of  $48 
to  $1320  In  the  sixteenth  year  and  continuing  to 
$1440  for  the  teacher  of  the  graduating  class.  Men 
class  teachers  began  with  $900  a  year  and  rose  by 
annual  increments  of  $105  to  $2160  In  the  thirteenth 
year,  and  continued  up  to  $2400  for  teaching  the 
graduating  class. 

Consider,  In  some  detail,  the  effect  of  successful 
feminist  agitation  in  this  Instance,  one  of  the  most 
conspicuous  and  far-reaching  known,  upon  men's  sal- 
aries and  men's  employment. 

Under  the  "  Equal  Pay "  schedules  men  and 
women  teachers  both  were  to  receive  $720  a  year 


io8  FEMINISM 

for  three  years  and  then  rise  by  annual  increments 
of  $60  to  $1500  for  teaching  lower  grades  and 
$1820  for  teaching  the  seventh  or  eighth  grades. 
The  women  got  a  handsome  increase  of  salary,  the 
men  a  disheartening  decrease,  applicable,  however, 
only  to  those  accepting  appointment  subsequent  to 
the  enactment  of  the  law. 

The  law  went  Into  effect  In  19 12  and  Immediately 
the  disastrous  result  of  this  effort  to  decrease  men 
teachers'  salaries  appeared.  Of  79  men  who  were 
offered  appointment  In  March,  ^^  declined.  It  was 
plain  that  even  men  who  had  been  through  the  stiff 
preparatory  training  and  had  weathered  the  entrance 
examinations  would  rather  abandon  their  chosen  pro- 
fession than  work  for  women's  pay.  Thereupon  the 
legislature  modified  the  ''  Equal  Pay  "  law  by  provid- 
ing that  men  whose  names  were  on  eligible  lists  when 
the  law  was  passed  should  be  paid  the  old  salary 
rates.  At  once  the  number  of  men  appointees  in- 
creased. A  year  later  the  legislature  let  down  the 
bars  again  and  virtually  abrogated  the  equal-pay 
principle  by  enacting  that  men  who  were  preparing 
for  the  examinations  for  the  licence  to  teach  at  the 
time  the  "  equal-pay  "  law  was  passed  should  be  paid, 
when  appointed,  the  old  schedule  rates.  Therefore 
in  November,  19 14,  of  52  men  offered  appointment 
only  8  declined.  Of  the  44  who  accepted,  39  will 
receive  the  higher  schedule  rates  and  some  of  the 
remaining  5,  by  receiving  an  allowance  for  outside 
experience,  do  not  start  at  the  bottom  rate. 


EQUAL  PAY  109 

No  reduction  was  made  by  law  of  the  salaries  of 
men  teachers  In  high  schools.  Instead,  the  generous 
schedule  framed  to  attract  men  teachers,  running 
from  $900  a  year  by  Increments  of  $100  to  $2650 
for  assistant  teachers  and  $3150  for  first  assistants, 
was  finally  adopted  also  for  the  women  teachers. 
They  thus  secured,  as  a  reward  for  their  agitation, 
the  market  rate  for  men  teachers,  a  rate  consid- 
erably above  the  market  rate  for  women  teachers. 
It  was  successfully  argued  that,  since  the  women 
teachers  In  high  schools  only  slightly  outnumber  the 
men  teachers  and  are  few  in  comparison  with  the 
women  teachers  In  grammar  schools,  the  cost  of 
equalising  salaries  would  not  be  ruinous  and  could 
therefore  be  paid  as  the  price  of  peace.  The  one 
valuable  outcome  was  that  the  rates  fixed,  being 
men's  rates.  It  Is  still  possible  to  get  men  teachers. 

Thus  a  bonus  above  the  Individual  wage  was  voted 
as  a  political  gift  to  the  women  and  the  doctrine  of  a 
family  wage  was  repudiated,  as  to  the  grammar 
schools,  for  the  men.  This  repudiation  Is  a  be- 
trayal of  the  family.  It  concedes  the  anti-social  con- 
tention, never  admitted  by  trade  union  or  law,  that 
a  man  need  not  support  his  wife  and  children,  but 
the  mother  should  work  for  her  own  and  her  off- 
spring's dally  bread.  It  advances  a  long  march  to- 
wards the  subjugation  of  woman  to  material  pro- 
duction, and  her  elimination  from  homemaking,  baby 
bearing  and  child  training.  It  is  betraying  the  fu- 
ture to  gain  political  ends. 


no  FEMINISM 

In  cases  where  the  female  employes  are  very  few, 
as  In  controllers'  offices,  the  women  may  receive  the 
same  salaries  as  men  without  the  reduction  of  the 
men's  salaries,  because  the  cost  to  the  community  is 
too  small  to  make  a  struggle  politically  worth  the 
effort.  Their  bonus  over  what  they  could  command 
In  private  employment  will  be  far  higher  than  the 
men's  corresponding  bonus,  but  their  insignificant 
numbers  will  protect  them  from  the  logical  applica- 
tion of  economic  principles. 

In  final  outcome.  In  the  first  case,  where  women 
already  being  in  a  large  majority,  the  men  are  sac- 
rificed to  the  feminist  doctrine  and  are  not  paid  a 
full  family  wage,  the  men  will  soon  eliminate  them- 
selves from  the  employment.  In  the  latter  case, 
where  the  men's  salaries  are  not  reduced,  the  ap- 
pointing officer,  responsible  for  getting  the  office 
work  done  with  the  maximum  efficiency,  will  struggle 
constantly  against  the  substitution  of  women  for 
men,  and  the  number  of  positions  filled  by  women 
will  remain  few. 

In  Australasia,  where  the  State  determines  "  fair 
and  reasonable  "  wages  for  men  as  well  as  women, 
the  rule  Is  established  that  a  man's  minimum  shall 
be  a  family  wage,  while  the  woman's  minimum  Is  an 
individual  wage.  Mr.  Justice  Higgins,  president  of 
the  Commonwealth  Conciliation  and  Arbitration 
Court  of  Australia,  describing  the  methods  in  which 
that  court  had  fixed  wages,  says : 

"  The  test  of  a  fair  and  reasonable  standard  is 


EQUAL  PAY  III 

a  wage  sufficient  for  the  normal  needs  of  the  average 
employe  living  In  a  civilised  community.  The  es- 
sential needs  are  food,  shelter  and  clothing.  A  full 
and  generous  allowance  for  these  should  be  made 
to  the  average  man  who  may  be  assumed  to  support 
an  average  family,  consisting  of  himself,  his  wife 
and  three  dependent  children." 

But,  '*  a  woman  Is  not,  like  a  man,  under  general 
obhgatlon  for  the  support  of  her  family."  There- 
fore, "  Where  women  are  continually  employed  In 
preference  to  men,  another  standard  should  fix  the 
general  rate  of  wages.  This  should  be  the  cost  of 
living  for  the  individual  girl,  living  away  from  home 
with  the  responsibility  of  supporting  herself.  Of 
course  many  girls  have  family  responsibilities;  but 
an  employer  cannot  be  told  to  pay  a  particular  em- 
ploye higher  wages  because  she  happens  to  have 
parents  dependent  on  her,  any  more  than  he  can  be 
allowed  to  pay  her  less  because  she  has  a  legacy  from 
her  grandparents  or  because  she  lodges  free  with  her 
parents  and  merely  wants  some  money  for  dress."  ^ 

Plainly  there  Is  a  blunt  antagonism  between  the 
doctrine  of  equal  pay  for  men  and  women  and  the 
doctrine  of  the  minimum  wage.  If  the  demand  for 
equal  pay  be  conceded,  the  legal  minimum  wage 
for  men  must  be  abandoned;  as  must  also  the  legal 
obligation  upon  the  man  to  support  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren —  a  high  price  to  pay  for  a  doubtful  advantage 
to  groups  of  women. 

2  The  Survey,  August  i,  1914. 


CHAPTER  XI 

FEMINISM   AND   FREE    LOVE 

Does  Feminism  lead  toward  Free  Love?  Con- 
servative women  suffragists  resent  the  imputation 
that  their  principles  involve  approval  of  changes  in 
the  marriage  laws  or  any  condonation  of  laxer  sexual 
relationships.  Yet  literary  exponents  of  Feminism, 
more  concerned  with  philosophy  than  practical  poli- 
tics, declare  unequivocally  that  implicit  in  feminist 
doctrine  lies  the  advocacy  of  radical  readjustments 
of  sexual  relations.  So  long  as  the  woman's  move- 
ment Is  merely  instinctive,  a  childish  revolt,  not  sus- 
tained by  any  thoughtful  reasoning,  so  long  it  es- 
capes the  vision  of  its  own  destiny.  But  "  wherever 
the  conscious  striving  to  elevate,  to  educate  and  to 
secure  the  rights  of  woman  has  been  profound.  It 
has  been  united  with  the  desire  to  reform  the  posi- 
tion of  women  In  love  and  marriage,"  declares  Ellen 
Key,^  the  acute  observer  whose  eye,  from  her  Swed- 
ish eyrie,  follows  the  sweep  of  the  woman's  move- 
ment the  wide  world  over. 

In  America  "  the  conscious  striving  "  has  not  been 
so  "  profound  "  as  In  Scandinavia  and  Germany,  and 
"  the  desire  to  reform  the  position  of  woman  in  love 
and  marriage  "  Is  therefore  not  so  Intense  and  sub- 

-  "  Love  and  Marriage,"  p.  62. 

113 


FEMINISM  AND  FREE  LOVE       113 

versive;  though  In  America  also,  writes  Mrs.  Cool- 
Idge,  *'  the  emphasis  upon  freedom  from  the  moral 
domination  of  man,  made  by  the  first  female  Insur- 
gents, Is  now  transferred  to  a  readjustment  of  the 
marriage  relation  and  the  question  of  economic  re- 
sponsibility." Another  exponent  exclaims:  "The 
free  power  of  Selection  In  Love.  Yes !  That  Is  the 
true  Female  Franchise.  It  must  be  regained  by 
woman.  Existing  marriage  Is  a  pernicious  survival 
of  the  patriarchal  age."  ^  "  Free  Power  of  Selec- 
tion In  Love  "  or  "  Freedom  In  Love  "  (Ellen  Key's 
phrase).  Is  a  euphemism  for  what  simple  people  call 
free  love.  Yet  these  extreme  doctrines,  as  another 
American  historian  of  the  woman's  movement  tes- 
tifies, "  have  been  the  logical  outgrowth  of  the  self- 
same faith  "  held  by  the  "  more  conservative  spir- 
its "  in  the  women's  ranks. ^ 

Their  logical  lineage  can  be  traced  through  the 
emphasis  made  at  all  stages  of  Feminism  upon  free- 
dom as  the  supreme  aim.  The  key  word  of  Fem- 
inism is  freedom.  It  seeks  to  make  each  woman 
the  arbltress  of  her  own  destiny,  to  rid  her  step  by 
step  of  the  restraints  which  laws  and  customs  im- 
pose upon  her.  "  Women  are  striving  for  legal, 
political  and  sexual  Independence,"  explains  a  woman 
doctor.* 

2  "The  Truth  about  Woman,"  by  C.  Gasquolne  Hartley,  p.  256. 

* "  Feminism  in  Germany  and  Scandinavia,"  by  Katharine 
Anthony,  p.   10. 

*  "  Woman,  Marriage  and  Motherhood,"  by  Elizabeth  S.  Chesser, 
p.  257. 


114  FEMINISM 

But  woman  cannot  enjoy  freedom  —  so  runs  the 
argument  —  so  long  as  she  accepts  economic  support 
from  her  father  or  husband.  Dependence  means 
subjection.  So  she  must  win  economic  independence 
before  marriage,  that  Is,  l)e  free  from  the  domina- 
tion of  her  father,  and  retain  it  after  marriage,  that 
is,  be  free  from  the  domination  of  her  husband. 
Her  higher  education  must  be  directed  to  prepare  her 
for  winning  economic  Independence  and  she  must  win 
the  vote  mainly  that  she  may  use  it  to  aid  her  in  her 
economic  struggle.  Accepting  the  support  of  her 
children's  father  is  "  being  dependent  on  her  sex 
functions  for  a  means  of  livelihood  " —  a  revolting 
slavery.^  And  "  danger  lurks  for  woman  and  her 
freedom  when,  to  safeguard  her  independence,  she 
has  no  other  resources  than  the  seduction  of  her 
beauty  to  gain  and  to  hold  the  love  she  Is  able  to  in- 
spire. Sex  becomes  the  defensive  weapon  and  one 
she  must  use  for  self-protection  if  she  is  to  live.  It 
seems  to  me  that  this  economic  use  of  sex  Is  the  real 
cancer  at  the  very  root  of  the  sexual  relationship. 
It  is  but  a  step  further  and  a  perfectly  logical  one 
that  leads  to  prostitution."  ^  To  preserve  them- 
selves from  this  fate  married  women  and  mothers 
must  jealously  guard  their  self-support  through  wage 
earning. 

Freedom  from  her  husband's  support,  we  are  told, 

'^  "  Woman,  Marriage  and  Motherhood,"  by  Elizabeth  S.  Chesser, 
p.  257. 

«"Th^  Truth  about  Woman,"  by  C.  G.  Hartley,  p.  215. 


FEMINISM  AND  FREE  LOVE       115 

would  be  of  little  worth,  however,  did  it  not  enable 
a  woman  to  grant  or  withhold  conjugal  rights  at  her 
pleasure,  and  even  to  cast  off  a  husband  who  was  no 
longer  congenial.  Of  all  forms  of  enslavement  en- 
forced subjection  to  marital  embraces  is  one  of  the 
most  odious.  Married  women  must  win  and  assert 
"  possession  of  their  own  bodies."  They  must  be 
allowed  by  law  and  custom  to  determine  whether 
they  will  bear  one  child  or  none,  whether  their 
wedded  life  shall  be  virginal  or  conjugal;  none  of 
which  is  feasible  so  long  as  the  husband  Is  the  bread- 
winner. They  must  be  free  to  return  to  single  life 
whenever  the  husband  Insists  on  entrenching  upon 
their  privacy.  So  economic  Independence  is  recog- 
nised and  advocated  as  preliminary  to  sexual  Inde- 
pendence. 

As  Mrs.  Gallichan  says,  with  respect  to  the  Bur- 
mese women,  who  do  most  of  the  business  of  the 
country  and  throng  the  streets  at  all  hours  of  the 
day:  '  "Given  such  complete  economic  freedom  of 
woman,  and  It  is  self-evident  that  the  sexual  rela- 
tionship will  also  be  free."  Not  necessarily  loose 
or  Hcentlous,  but  free.  "  Very  striking  are  the  con- 
ditions of  divorce.  The  marriage  contract  can  be 
dissolved  freely  at  the  wish  of  both  or  even  of  one 
of  the  parties."  And,  it  should  be  remembered,  a 
large  part  of  women  suffragists  approve  the  eco- 
nomic self-support  of  both  single  and  married 
women,  though  usually  they  do  not  realise  that, 
**  given  the  complete  economic  freedom  of  women 


ii6  FEMINISM 

and  the  sexual  relationship  will  also  be  free."  "^  A 
few  not  only  recognise  the  outcome  but  openly  an- 
nounce their  intention.  One  of  the  founders  of  the 
Equality  Alliance  in  New  York  City,  an  organisa- 
tion led  by  writers,  editors  and  artists,  formed 
mainly  to  prevent  the  withdrawal  of  women  teachers 
from  their  salary-earning  upon  marriage  or  mother- 
hood, announced,  in  the  writer's  hearing,  to  an  ap- 
plauding audience  of  feminists :  "  We  mean  to  be 
monogamous,  but  reasonably  monogamous;  not  al- 
ways monogamous  with  the  same  person." 

"  In  the  main,"  explains  another  candid  advo- 
cate in  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  "  we  are  opposed  to 
the  indissoluble  Christian  marriage.  The  present 
increase  in  the  divorce  rate  is  of  course  gratifying; 
but  it  Is  not  enough.  Personally  I  believe  that  the 
ultimate  aim  of  Feminism  is  the  suppression  of  mar- 
riage and  the  Institution  of  free  alliance.  It  may  be 
that  only  thus  can  woman  develop  her  own  per- 
sonahty."  ^ 

For,  the  argument  proceeds,  if  divorce  and  fre- 
quent matings  are  to  be  common  and  easy,  and  if  eco- 
nomic support  by  the  husband  is  repudiated  as  a  dis- 
grace why  go  through  all  the  fuss  and  fettering  of 
marriage  at  all?  Why  not  accept  an  "  affinity  "  dur- 
ing your  pleasure  and  his  good  behaviour,  assuming, 
yourself,  the  responsibility  for  any  offspring,  and  re- 
taining to  the  full,  without  even  temporary  sacrifice, 

7  "The  Truth  about  Woman,"   p.    157. 
8W.  L.  George,  Atlantic  Monthly,  Dec.  1913. 


FEMINISM  AND  FREE  LOVE       117 

your  soul's  chief  joy, —  freedom?  Especially  where 
there  are  not  enough  men  to  give  every  woman  a 
husband  why  should  a  woman  be  debarred  from 
motherhood  unless  she  find  a  husband?  Why 
should  her  freedom  be  so  grievously  curtailed  in  the 
deepest  concern  of  her  life?  Discussion  of  "  Free 
Motherhood,"  as  this  claim  for  a  child  outside  of 
wedlock  is  styled,  is  heard  among  the  younger  fem- 
inists in  American  cities,  but  is  most  open  in  England 
and  Germany,  where  the  slaughter  of  the  future  hus- 
bands in  the  Great  War  is  likely  to  make  it  in  the 
future,  indeed,  a  vital  issue.  In  both  countries,  as 
one  of  the  rebels  asserts,  "  Very  gallant  and  very 
young  are  the  rebels  of  this  class  for  the  most  part, 
seeking  joy  and  self-expression,  individualistic,  as- 
sured, capable.  To  the  younger  generation  of  reb- 
els the  potential  mother  crying  for  the  prohibited 
baby  is  become  the  central  figure  of  life's  tragedy."  ^ 

Another  advocate  avers:  "  As  Indicating  the  ex- 
tent of  the  present  sex  revolt  we  see  a  type  of  woman 
arising  who  believes  in  a  state  of  society  in  which 
man  will  not  figure  In  the  life  of  woman  except  as 
the  father  of  her  child."  ^^ 

While  these  conclusions  are  startling,  the  chain  of 
reasoning  which  leads  to  them  Is  continuous.  All 
the  consequences  follow  from  the  fundamental  as- 
sumption of  Feminism  that  so  long  as  woman's  fate 
Is  knit  up  with  that  of  the  family  she  cannot  attain 

*  Candida  in  The  Neiv  Statesman,  June  27,  1914. 

10  W.  L.  George,  Atlantic  Monthly,  December,  1913. 


ii8  FEMINISM 

proper  Individual  development  and  that  her  salva- 
tion demands  that  she  disentangle  herself  from  the 
family  relationship.  And,  if  the  freedom  and  self- 
expression  of  the  woman  be  exclusively  considered, 
the  claim  of  Feminism  must  be  granted.  Surely,  If 
her  satisfaction  be  Isolated  from  all  other  considera- 
tions, each  woman  Is  entitled  to  command  over  her 
own  body  and  to  escape  from  an  uncongenial  hus- 
band; she  Is  entitled  to  free  maternity  and  to  an  In- 
dependent economic  status.  This  female  Anarch- 
Ism  Is  Impossible  simply  because  woman  is  an  essen- 
tial part  of  the  social  organism.  Her  freedom  and 
self-expression  cannot  be  exclusively  regarded.  Her 
destiny  Is  bound  up  with  the  destiny  of  the  child. 
Woman  must  sacrifice  even  part  of  her  freedom  for 
the  sake  of  the  race. 

At  each  stage  In  the  desired  progress  towards 
sexual  Independence  for  her  there  Is  an  Inalienable 
conflict  between  woman's  freedom  and  the  child's 
well-being.  If,  before  marriage,  she  must  win  eco- 
nomic Independence,  the  result  Is  too  often  that  her 
strength  is  exhausted  and  her  maternal  powers  are 
deranged.  If,  after  marriage,  she  continue  to  earn 
money  that  she  may  be  economically  Independent  of 
her  husband,  the  outcome  Is  again  Injurious  to  the 
next  generation.  The  tale  of  baby  deaths  In  factory 
towns,  the  slaughter  of  the  Innocents  wherever  the 
mother  daily  deserts  the  home,  demonstrate  the  cost 
to  the  race  of  the  mother's  specious  freedom.  If 
the  mother  be  free  to  part  from  her  husband  so  sopn 


FEMINISM  AND  FREE  LOVE       119, 

as  he  becomes  uncongenial  and  be  free  also  to  ac- 
cept a  new  comrade,  the  child  is  again  the  victim. 
Also  "  Free  Motherhood  "  is  to  be  repudiated,  be- 
cause the  child  needs  two  parents,  its  training  a 
masculine  as  well  as  a  feminine  hand. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  there  is  an  ideal  aspect 
to  the  proposal  to  marry  with  the  understanding 
that  any  cooling  of  affection  shall  dissolve  the  bonds. 
"  Love  alone  consecrates  marriage,"  pleads  the  ar- 
dent young  soul.  "  If  Reginald  ceases  to  love  me 
or  I  to  love  Reginald,  we  shall  dissolve  our  mar- 
riage." But  society,  concerned  for  its  own  perma- 
nence and  solicitous  for  the  care  of  the  next  genera- 
tion, cannot  permit  Reginald  and  Angela  to  be  the 
sole  judges  in  their  difficulty.  Not  merely  they,  but 
society,  not  merely  the  present  but  the  future,  must 
be  considered.  So  divorce  can  be  granted  only  by 
legal  process  upon  serious  grounds. 

In  the  end  woman  herself  would  suffer  from  the 
effects  of  "  freedom."  Were  Feminism's  pro- 
gramme to  succeed,  it  would  ultimately,  despite  the 
seeming  temporary  advantage,  inflict  incalculable  in- 
jury on  her. 

First.  Woman,  struggling  against  man,  through- 
out life,  in  the  industrial  world,  is  robbed  of  that 
affectional  satisfaction  in  her  work  which  is  her 
steadiest  joy.  Normally  a  woman,  to  be  con- 
tented, must  be  working  for  some  person  she  loves. 
With  a  child  or  a  relative  to  serve,  she  can  endure 
prolonged  effort  without  succumbing.     She  cannot 


120  FEMINISM 

win  satisfaction,  as  man  can,  from  building  up  a 
business,  improving  a  firm's  credit,  increasing  the 
output,  enlarging  the  nation's  exports  and  the  like. 
Tending  a  machine,  even  if  it  demands  less  muscular 
strength,  is  more  wearing  to  her  than  tending  a  baby. 
The  machine  exhausts  her  energy  and  gives  back  no 
joy;  the  baby  replenishes  her  energy  and  gives  back 
comfort  for  effort.  As  well  try  to  further  the  satis- 
faction of  a  musician  by  "  freeing  "  him  from  slavery 
to  piano  and  violin  that  he  may  revel  in  the  din  of  a 
boiler  factory  as  to  further  the  satisfaction  of 
woman  by  "  freeing  "  her  from  personal  service  to 
those  she  loves  that  she  may  revel  In  impersonal, 
economic  independence. 

Second.  It  would  release  man  from  the  restraints 
an3  obligations  to  which,  through  the  ages,  he  has 
gradually  been  subjected.  Were  the  wife  to  become 
customarily  the  bread-winner,  the  husband,  set  free 
from  drudgery,  might  return  to  the  hunting  and  fish- 
ing and  fighting  which  engaged  his  savage  ancestor 
whose  squaw  fed  the  household.  As  man  attained 
a  settled  Hfe  and  began  to  till  the  soil  he  took  the 
field  work  from  the  woman's  shoulders  and  assumed 
an  ever-increasing  share  of  the  responsibility  for 
feeding  the  family.  But,  if  woman  Insists  on  taking 
back  that  responsibility,  his  will  be  the  release  and 
herjs  the  burden. 

Third.  If,  in  addition,  she  should  make  the  mar- 
riage tie  so  loose  that  either  partner  could  easily  slip 
the  noose,  she  would  find  that  man's  fancy  roams 


FEMINISM  AND  FREE  LOVE       121 

more  lightly  than  woman's  and  she  would  most  often 
be  left  deserted.  Her  affection  for  the  child  and, 
through  the  child,  for  the  father,  is  naturally  deeper 
rooted  than  the  husband's.  Man,  as  yet.  Is  but  "  im- 
perfectly monogamous."  But  the  best  protection  of 
mother  and  child  will  be  secured  by  enforcing  pater- 
nal obligation  ever  more  stringently,  by  demanding 
from  the  husband  a  stricter  and  stricter  fidelity. 

Woman,  like  man,  must  choose  between  freedom 
and  duty.  Her  yearning  for  freedom  Is  not  dis- 
creditable. It  has  been  shared  by  the  world's 
noblest  spirits.  It  Is,  Indeed,  say  the  philosophers, 
an  Intimation  of  immortality.  But  freedom,  pur- 
sued after  It  parts  company  with  duty,  leads  to  de- 
struction. And  duty  to  the  child  Is  the  supreme  duty 
for  woman,  since,  if  she  abandon  that  duty,  the  race 
must  decline. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  woman's  movement  AND  THE  BABY  CROP 

The  woman's  movement  is  a  movement  towards 
progressive  national  degeneration  and  ultimate  na- 
tional suicide. 

Already  the  evidence  Is  conclusive  that  the  effects 
of  Feminism  upon  the  inalienable  function  and  im- 
memorial duty  of  woman  —  the  bearing  of  children 
—  are  so  appalling  as  to  threaten  the  perpetuation 
of  the  best  parts  of  the  nation. 

The  one  duty  to  society  which  women  alone  can 
discharge  Is  the  bearing  of  children.  In  this  respect 
they  can  never,  except  at  the  cost  of  national  extinc- 
tion, attain  identity  of  powers,  and  privileges  and  ex- 
emptions with  men.^ 

The  final  test  of  the  woman's  movement  Is  its 
effect  upon  the  most  essential,  exacting  and  exalted 
of  woman's  duties.  Ultimately  the  woman's  move- 
ment must  succeed  or  fail  according  as  It  strengthens 
or  weakens  woman's  motherhood  —  her  mother- 
hood physical,  Intellectual  and.  spiritual. 

We  will  examine,  then,  the  available  facts  that 

^  We  may  thrust  aside  as  too  bizarre  and  foolish  for  serious 
consideration,  the  experiments  aiming  at  artificial  incubation  of 
human  infants  which  Dr.  G.  Stanley  Hall  says  that  a  few  groups 
of  women  have  conducted. 

122 


THE  WOMAN'S  MOVEMENT       123 

illuminate  this  phase  of  the  woman's  movement  in 
America. 

Earliest  among  the  manifestations  of  this  move- 
ment was  the  demand  for  higher  education  for 
women,  a  demand  which  was  speedily  met.  To-day 
the  college  education  of  women  Is  so  abundantly  sup- 
phed  that  In  1911-12  72,703  women  were  In  col- 
leges In  the  United  States.  College  training  has  be- 
come not  merely  respectable  but  fashionable.  Little 
trace  remains  of  opposition  to  college  training  on  the 
ground  that  It  Is  unwomanly.  In  twenty  years  the 
number  of  women  at  college  has  more  than  trebled. 
This  feminine  corps  of  more-or-less  Intellectuals  has 
Increased  from  20,874  In  1889-90  to  72,703  In 
1911-12,  a  rate  of  growth  double  as  fast  as  the 
men  students'  rate  of  growth. 

It  Is  In  the  circles  from  which  college  women  come 
that  the  woman's  movement  has  been  most  pro- 
nounced, for  Feminism  as  a  cult  touches  the  less  in- 
tellectual levels  of  society  but  lightly.  All  that  Is  in- 
volved In  the  claims  of  Feminism,  the  liberation  of 
women  by  making  their  lives  and  work  approximate 
to  the  lives  and  work  of  men,  has  been  attained  more 
by  college  graduates  than  by  any  other  set  of  women. 
Their  lives  have  been  directed  consciously  according 
to  the  gospel  of  the  woman's  movement  more  than 
the  lives  of  their  wage-earning  sisters  in  factories 
and  stores.  They  have  enjoyed  that  free  choice  be- 
tween domestic  and  business  careers,  following  upon 
the  best  training  and  preparation  that  society  af- 


124  FEMINISM 

forded,  that  free  choice  which  Feminism  hopes  to 
offer  to  every  woman. 

When  the  higher  education  of  women  was  in  dis- 
pute its  advocates  derided  the  idea  that  the  mother- 
hood of  women  could  be  prejudicially  affected  in  the 
slightest  degree  by  college  education.  They  argued 
that  maternal  instincts  were  too  deep  seated  and  the 
joys  of  motherhood  were  too  much  desired  to  be 
modified  by  any  changes  of  training  or  environment. 

What  are  the  facts  ?  When  they  are  quoted  they 
are  usually  challenged.  Therefore  I  have  taken 
them  exclusively  from  the  statistical  publication  of 
highest  repute  and  unimpeachable  integrity,  the  ofii- 
^  cial  journal  of  the  American  Statistical  Association, 
verifying  and  correcting  my  statements  by  correspon- 
dence with  the  writers  of  the  articles,  none  of  whom 
is  arguing  against  Feminism. 

First,  it  is  now  proven  that  half  the  college  women 
graduates  do  not  marry  at  all.  In  an  article  in  the 
Journal  of  the  American  Statistical  Association 
(June,  19 14)  has  been  brought  together  in  scientific 
fashion  all  the  available  marriage  statistics  of  the 
women  graduates  of  colleges  in  America.  The 
writer  concludes  her  examination  as  follows :  *'  The 
decade  of  1890  to  1899  is  undoubtedly  the  most 
fairly  representative  (as  respects  marriage  rates). 
On  the  one  hand,  it  falls  within  the  epoch  which  ac- 
cepted college  education  for  women  and  looked  upon 
it  as  thoroughly  respectable.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  graduates  in  the  latest  graduating  class  (class  of 


THE  WOMAN'S  MOVEMENT       125 

1899)  are  now  at  least  thirty-five  years  of  age. 
The  marriage  record  of  the  decade  is  therefore 
fairly  complete.  The  eight  colleges  graduating 
more  than  one  hundred  students  each  during  the 
decade  (Earlham,  Swarthmore,  Wilson,  Indiana, 
Vassar,  Radcliffe,  Wellesley  and  Bryn  Mawr)  show 
fairly  uniform  marriage  rates.  The  lowest  is  Bryn 
Mawr,  41.8  per  cent.  (294  graduates),  and  the 
highest  Swarthmore,  58.7  per  cent.  (148  graduates). 
It  is  probable  that  the  marriage  rate  for  this  decade 
is  fairly  representative  of  the  tendency  in  the  mod- 
ern women's  college  world."  And,  as  shown  by  the 
figures  for  this  decade :  "  The  proportion  of 
women   college   graduates   who   marry   is   approxi- 

^  mately  one-half."  Possibly  a  few  members  of  the 
latest  classes  included  in  the  calculation  might  marry 
after  the  age  of  thirty-five  or  thirty-six;  but  so  few 
as  not  to  affect  the  argument. 

This  conclusion  is  accepted  by  women  leaders 
themselves  as  indisputable.  Miss  M.  Carey 
Thomas,  president  of  Bryn  Mawr  College,  says 
"  that  50  per  cent,  of  women  college  graduates 
marry  and  40  per  cent,  bear  and  rear  children,"  ^ 
a  gracious  concession  on  their  part  to  nature  and  to 
society  which  should,  in  her  opinion,  save  them  from 
hostile  criticism.  To  feminists  it  appears  to  be  a 
matter  of  astonishment,  a  claim  on  man's  gratitude, 

.  that  one  college  woman  out  of  two  still  consents  to 
marry  and  two  out  of  five  actually  bear  a  child. 

^Educational  Re'vieiv,  January,  1908. 


126  FEMINISM 

To  judge  whether  this  marriage  rate  is  less  than 
normal  and  may  be  a  result  of  the  woman's  move- 
ment, we  must  know  whether  other  women  In  the 
United  States  of  the  same  colour  and  race  and  na- 
tivity marry  more  or  less.  Eighty-five  per  cent,  of 
women  college  graduates  are  of  native  white  paren- 
tage ;  so  plainly  it  would  be  unfair  to  compare  their 
marriage  record  with  the  record  of  coloured  women 
or  of  recent  Immigrants.  So  we  will  make  a  com- 
parison with  women  of  their  own  colour  and  race. 
We  do  not  know,  by  direct  count,  the  proportion 
of  noncolleglate,  white  native  women,  who,  given 
plenty  of  time,  ultimately  marry;  but  only  the  pro- 
portion of  them  who,  when  a  census  is  taken,  are 
married  women.  In  1 910  of  all  the  women  of  na- 
tive white  parentage  In  the  United  States  who  were 
15  years  of  age  or  over,  69.8  per  cent,  were  mar- 
ried; and  of  all  college  graduates  of  all  ages  in  19 12, 
42.2  per  cent,  were  married.  But  15  per  cent,  of 
college  graduates  are  of  foreign  or  mixed  parentage; 
and,  paradoxically  enough,  the  marriage  rate  among 
women  of  foreign  or  mixed  parentage  Is  lower  than 
among  women  of  native  white  parentage.  Making 
allowance  for  this  Infusion  among  college  graduates 
of  a  strain  of  mixed  parentage  It  is  shown  ^  that  out 
of  every  100  women  of  the  same  colour  and  nativity, 
67  noncollegians,  15  years  of  age  and  over,  are  mar- 
ried and  42.2  collegians.     Collegians  are  all  over 

8  See  article  "  Education  and  Fecundity,"  by  Nearing,  Journal  of 
American  Statistical  Association,  June,  1914. 


THE  WOMAN'S  MOVEMENT       127 

22.  The  percentage  of  noncollegians  over  22  who 
are  married  would  be  considerably  higher  than  67; 
but,  as  we  do  not  know  the  exact  figure,  we  will  ac- 
cept the  handicap  upon  the  argument  involved  in  tak- 
ing the  proportion  for  those  15  years  of  age  and 
over.  Now,  67  is  59  per  cent,  above  42.  So  that 
the  chance  that  a  noncollege  white  American  girl  will 
marry  is  at  least  59  per  cent,  higher  than  the  chance 
that  a  college  girl  will  marry.  But  we  know  by 
actual  count  that  of  every  100  collegians  50 
marry;  therefore,  of  every  100  noncollegians  80 
will  marry. 

Thus  far,  then,  it  appears  that  the  woman's  move- 
ment and  college  education  and  all  that  it  brings  in 
its  train  must  share  the  responsibility  for  the  spin- 
ster state  of  30  out  of  every  100  graduates. 

Next  consider  the  number  of  children  born  to  that 
half  of  the  graduates  who,  despite  their  college  train- 
ing and  subsequent  economic  careers,  do  marry. 

First,  we  notice  the  disturbing  fact  that  a  far 
larger  proportion  of  the  marriages  of  college  gradu- 
ates are  sterile  than  among  the  general  population. 
The  proportion  of  infertile  marriages  among  mar- 
ried graduates  of  the  period  of  18 70-1 901,  the 
count  being  made  over  ten  years  after  the  graduation 
of  the  youngest  class  considered,  varies  from  20.1 
per  cent,  among  the  graduates  of  Rockford  to  32.9 
per  cent,  among  the  graduates  of  Smith;*  whereas 

*See  Nearing  on  "Education  and  Fecundity":  American  Statisti- 
cal Association  Quarterly,  June,  1914. 


128  FEMINISM 

in  the  native  white  population  outside  colleges 
among  women  under  45  years  of  age  married  10  to 
20  years,  a  group  comparable  in  all  respects,  it  is 
13  per  cent,  as  is  proven  by  Dr.  Joseph  A.  Hill.^ 
So  that  childless  marriages  are  one  and  a  half  to  two 
and  a  half  times  a^  common  among  those  college 
women  who  do  marry  as  among  married  white 
American  women  in  general.  Whether  that  sad 
condition  is  due  to  causes  physiological  or  psychologi- 
cal will  be  considered  later. 

Next,  how  many  children  do  those  college  women 
bear,  who  do  have  any  at  all?  We  know  that  the 
376  women  who  graduated  from  Vassar  between 
1880  and  1889  had,  by  19 12,  given  birth  to  348 
children  and  that  the  518  women  who  graduated  dur- 
ing the  same  period  from  Wellesley  had  given  birth 
to  427  children,  which  means  less  than  i  child  per 
graduate  in  each  case,  or  for  every  100  graduates 
who  married,  167.3  ^^^  166.1  children,  respectively. 
Since  the  youngest  of  these  women  would  be  over  45 
years  old  when  the  count  was  made,  it  is  unlikely 
that  their  families  will  increase.  Plainly  they  have 
not  been  recklessly  prolific.  They  have  scorned  the 
injunction  to  increase  and  multiply. 

"  Where  only  those  graduates  who  have  been 
graduated  a  sufficient  number  of  years  to  allow  for 
marriage  and  all  probable  family  increase  are  con- 
sidered," the  number  of  children  per  family  is  less 
than  two.     That  Is  to  say,  that  women  graduates, 

5  See  American  Statistical  Association  Quarterly,  December,  1913. 


THE  WOMAN'S  MOVEMENT       129 

married  and  unmarried  being  reckoned,  bear  on  an 
\  average  less  than  one  child  —  not  enough  to  replace 
themselves  and  the  husbands  of  the  married  half, 
even  if  every  child  survived.  The  spinster  half  be- 
comes extinct,  unrepresented  by  any  child  of  their 
married  classmates.  Fruitless  twigs  on  the  tree  of 
life  they  die.  Remember  that  3.7  children  to  each 
\  wife  are. necessary  to  maintain  a  stationary  popula- 
tion.^ 

Again,  to  judge  whether  the  woman's  movement 
has  had  any  influence  in  producing  this  race-suicidal 
result  we  must  consider  the  fruitlessness  of  noncol- 
legians  in  the  same  sections  of  the  population.  Dr. 
Joseph  A.  Hill  has  ascertained  that  the  birth  rate 
of  native-born  white  American  women  under  45 
years  of  age,  married  10  to  20  years,  is  2.7  per 
^  family,  the  families  of  the  youngest  being  incom- 
plete.'^ Compare  this  figure  with  the  number  1.67 
for  the  completed  families  of  Vassar  and  Wellesley 
graduates,  though  to  do  so  is  to  compare  completed 
collegians'  families  with  incomplete  noncollegians' 
famihes,  and  therefore  to  weight  the  figures  against 
the  argument.  We  find  that  of  every  100  graduates 
about  50  will  marry  and  they  will  produce  about  84 
children,  and  of  every  corresponding  100  noncol- 
legians  about  80  will  marry  and  they  will  produce 

*"  Education  and  Race  Suicide,"  by  Sprague  in  Journal  of 
Heredity,  April,  19 15. 

^  See  "  Comparative  Fecundity  of  Women  of  Native  and  Foreign 
Parentage  in  the  United  States,"  in  American  Statistical  Associa- 
tion Quarterly,  December,  1900. 


I30  FEMINISM 

more  than  216  children  —  roughly  two  and  a  half 
times  the  baby  crop.^ 

That  is  the  central  and  stupefying  fact.  Women 
college  graduates  in  America  hear  only  two-fifths  as 
many  children  in  proportion  to  their  number  as  other 
native  white  American  women. 

It  Is  not  contended  that  the  whole  of  this  differ- 
ence of  fertility  is  due  to  the  woman's  movement. 
Other  factors  operate  —  social  and  financial  condi- 
tions, the  desire  for  luxury,  the  high  standard  of  liv- 
ing, the  inability  of  their  natural  mates  to  marry  as 
young  as  formerly,  the  desire  to  give  each  child  born 
the  highest  training  society  offers.  Can  the  influ- 
ence of  these  factors  be  separated  and  a  residuum, 
the  effect  of  the  woman's  movement,  be  left?     Yes. 

College  men  come  from  the  same  stratum  of  so- 
ciety as  college  women;  they  are  equally  affected  by 
the  craving  for  luxury,  the  business  necessity  for 
postponing  marriage,  the  wish  to  have  no  more  chil- 
dren than  they  can  train  most  efficiently.  A  com- 
parison of  the  marriage  and  birth  rates  among  col- 
lege men  and  college  women  will  enable  us  to  elimi- 
nate the  influence  of  the  factors  common  to  both  and 
to  see  whether  a  college  education  and  the  economic 
independence  which  accompanies  it  and  the  whole 

8  If  the  comparison  were  made  with  the  families  of  Bryn  Mawr 
graduates  married  over  ten  years  the  proportion  of  children  would 
be  two  instead  of  two  and  a  half  times  as  many  for  non-collegiate 
women.  But  the  number  of  graduates  of  Bryn  Mawr  married 
over  ten  years,  being  only  85,  is  too  small  to  allow  a  valid  com- 
parison. 


THE  WOMAN'S  MOVEMENT       131 

influence  of  the  woman's  movement  on  the  college 
girl  appear  to  affect  the  woman  as  they  do  not  affect 
the  man. 

Misleading  statistics  on  this  subject  have  been 
quoted  both  by  feminists  and  anti-feminists,  mislead- 
ing because  they  referred  to  families  which  would 
naturally  be  increased  by  births  after  the  time  at 
which  the  children  were  counted.  A  period  must  be 
chosen  for  comparison  sufficiently  remote  to  allow 
for  the  completion  of  the  families  at  the  time  the 
count  is  made.  Yale  and  Vassar  furnish  the  needed 
statistics.  The  marriage  rate  of  Yale  graduates  had 
declined  to  66.3  per  cent,  for  the  period  1867-86, 
a  period  long  enough  to  furnish  a  basis,  and  Pro- 
fessor William  B.  Bailey,  the  statistician,  has  cal- 
culated from  the  class  records  that  the  average  num- 
ber of  children  born  to  the  married  graduates  of 
these  classes  when  all  their  families  are  complete  is 
2.3.®  The  graduates  of  1870-89  at  Vassar  and  of 
1880-89  at  Wellesley  numbered  1277  and  had  borne 
by  19 1 2,  when  the  members  of  the  youngest  class 
would  average  45  years  of  age  and  their  families 
be  complete,  a  total  of  1197  children  or  93.7  for 
each  hundred  graduates. 

So  that  every  hundred  Yale  graduates  produced 
152.5  children  and  every  hundred  Vassar  and  Wel- 
lesley graduates  produced  93.7  children. 

All  circumstances  of  social  standing,  desire  for 
luxury,  business  necessity  and  the  like  being  the  same, 

9  Yale  Review,  November,  1908,  p.  337. 


132  FEMINISM 

the  only  difference  between  the  men  and  the  women 
being  the  different  effect  upon  them  of  all  that  is  con- 
noted by  and  results  from  college  education,  it  is 
plain,  then,  that  the  fecundity  of  the  men  is  63  per 
cent,  greater  than  the  fecundity  of  the  women  —  an 
appalling  difference,  a  capital  charge  for  the  wom- 
an's movement  to  answer.  Whatever  factors  ac- 
count for  the  slim  crops  of  babies  in  the  men  gradu- 
ates' families  are  insufficient  to  account  for  the  still 
slimmer  crops  in  the  women  graduates'  families. 
The  startling  conclusion  stands  out: 

The  woman's  movement  has  reduced  the  fertility 
of  college  women  by  6j  per  cent,  below  the  level  to 
which  it  has  been  reduced  by  other  causes.  No  more 
serious  impeachment  could  be  made  of  any  social 
movement. 

The  defenders  of  the  higher  education  of  women 
and  of  the  Industrial  work  of  women  which  follows 
upon  it,  confronted  by  the  low  fertility  of  college 
graduates,  attempt  to  show  that  the  race  suicide 
which  glares  from  the  vital  statistics  of  women  col- 
legians Is  equally  rife  among  their  cousins,  sisters 
and  friends  who  do  not  go  to  college.  "  We  know 
that  no  one  nowadays,"  writes  Miss  M.  Carey 
Thomas,  "  has  more  than  about  two  children  per 
marriage  —  neither  college  men  nor  college  women, 
nor  the  brothers  and  sisters  of  college  men  and 
women  who  have  not  been  to  college,  nor  native 
white  American  families,  nor  American  immigrant 


THE  WOMAN'S  MOVEMENT        133 

families  in  the  second  generation."  ^^  As  has  been 
shown  above,  this  statement  is  not  accurate.  Native 
white  American  women  produce  more  nearly  three 
than  two  children  per  marriage,  and  the  human  har- 
vest among  men  collegians  is  more  abundant  by  fifty- 
eight  children  for  every  hundred  graduates  than 
among  women  collegians  —  a  difference  sufficient  to 
determine  extinction  or  survival. 

An  inquiry  into  the  families  of  337  college  women 
and  389  of  their  sisters,  cousins  and  friends,  showed 
that  the  college  graduates  married  about  two  years 
later  in  life  than  their  companions  who  did  not  go 
to  college  and  that  the  average  number  of  living 
children  to  each  married  woman  at  the  time  of  the 
inquiry,  when  the  child-bearing  period  was  not  passed 
for  all  the  women,  was  1.65  for  the  collegians  and 
1.87  for  the  noncollegians.^^  The  figure  when 
stated  as  the  average  per  family,  indicates,  appar- 
ently, but  a  trifling  difference;  its  significance  is  not 
revealed  until  it  is  noticed  that  for  every  hundred 
families  there  are  twenty-two  more  children  among 
the  noncolleglans  than  among  the  collegians,  a  dif- 
ference quite  palpable  when  the  whole  college 
woman  population  is  considered.  It  means  that  the 
72,000  in  colleges  in  19 12  will  bear  15,840  fewer 

10  Educational  Revienx},  January,  1908. 

11  See  article  by  Mary  Roberts  Smith,  associate  professor  of 
sociology  in  Leland  Stanford  University,  in  American  Statistical 
Association  Quarterly,  March- June,  1900. 


134  FEMINISM 

children  than  the  same  number  of  their  stay-at-home 
companions. 

But  though  comparisons  between  college  women 
and  their  noncollege  compeers  may  display  the  dif- 
ferences due  exclusively  to  college  education,,  they  do 
not  discover  the  total  effects  of  the  woman's  move- 
ment, because  that  movement  embraces  other  factors 
than  education,  and  one  of  them,  the  economic  In- 
dependence of  women,  affects  also  the  stay-at-home 
women  of  the  social  strata  from  which  college 
women  are  drawn. 

"  More  than  half  of  the  college  women  were  en- 
gaged in  teaching  and  nearly  three  quarters  in  some 
occupation  outside  of  their  own  homes  before  mar- 
riage," writes  Dr.  Mary  Roberts  Smith,  with  respect 
to  the  graduates  she  investigated.  "  Less  than  one 
quarter  of  the  noncollege  women  were  engaged  in 
teaching  and  only  slightly  more  than  one-third  were 
engaged  in  some  occupation  outside  their  own  homes 
before  marriage.  Evidently  college  education  for 
women  results  in  wage  earning.  Whatever  the 
cause,  the  result  is  a  striking  degree  of  economic  In- 
dependence before  marriage." 

Here  we  descry  the  more  potent  cause  of  the  re- 
duced fertility  of  women  college  graduates.  A  col- 
lege education  results  in  an  after  struggle  for  eco- 
nomic Independence  with  all  the  train  of  anti-social 
consequences  —  marriage  refused  or  postponed, 
children  discovered  to  be  a  fatal  hindrance  to  a 
career,  health  marred  or  ruined,  luxurious  standards 


THE  WOMAN'S  MOVEMENT       135 

set  up  on  the  Income  which  need  support  only  one 
and  a  twist  given  to  the  nature  away  from  domestic 
life.  And  one-third  of  the  noncoUegiate  sisters, 
cousins  and  friends  are  swept  by  the  woman's  move- 
ment into  the  same  vortex.  Though  their  fertility, 
therefore,  be  higher  than  their  college  companions' 
fertility.  It  also  Is  lower  than  It  would  be  were  Fem- 
inism not  active  also  In  their  ranks. 

The  twenty-two  fewer  children  born  to  each  hun- 
dred college  graduates'  marriages  Is  a  measure  only 
of  the  additional  effect  which  Feminism  produces 
when  It  can  add  to  Its  anti-domestic  Influence  among 
all  girls  In  well-to-do  homes  the  further  influence  of 
college  education  and  the  wider  economic  self-sup- 
port which  follows  upon  college  education. 

Apologists  for  the  woman's  movement,  alarmed 
by  these  facts,  have  put  forward  the  defence  "  that 
the  earlier  college  women  were  more  professionally 
inclined,  that  their  marriage  rate  was  abnormally 
low  for  this  reason,  and  that  with  the  more  varied 
classes  of  later  years,  the  marriage  rate  must  have 
risen."  But,  unluckily  for  this  defence,  there  has 
been  a  steady  decline  Instead  of  an  Increase  In  the 
marriage  rates,  among  Wellesley  students,  for  ex- 
ample, from  the  earliest  classes  to  the  later  classes. ^^ 

A  part  of  the  celibacy  among  college  graduates 
is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  in  some  families 
a  selection  Is  made  among  the  daughters.     "  Ger- 

12  See    "  Wellesley's    Birth-rate,"    by    Johnson    and    Stutzmann, 
Journal  of  Heredity,  June,  1915. 


136  FEMINISM 

trude  is  fond  of  the  boys  and  they  gather  round  her 
like  flies  round  honey.  She  will  be  all  right  and 
surely  marry.  There's  no  need  to  put  her  to  col- 
lege," parents  argue.  "  But  Elizabeth  cares  as  lit- 
tle for  young  men  as  they  seem  to  care  for  her.  She 
should  be  prepared  to  earn  her  own  living."  Thus 
among  college  graduates  there  is  a  somewhat  higher 
proportion  than  in  the  general  population  of  the 
women  less  disposed,  naturally,  at  least  during 
adolescence,  towards  marriage.  How  far  this  fac- 
tor accounts  for  the  high  rate  of  celibacy  and  steril- 
ity among  college  women  nobody  can  tell. 

However,  the  trend  towards  sterility  is  so  con- 
spicuous and  the  selection  for  college  of  the  less 
feminine  among  daughters  is,  relatively,  of  so  little 
moment,  that  the  gravest  fears  for  the  future  are 
warranted. 

Feminism  sets  for  its  goal  the  occupation  of  all 
women  for  money  outside  their  homes  both  before 
and  after  marriage.  Judging  from  the  startling 
facts  above  revealed  it  is  clear  that  in  the  halcyon 
day  when  Feminism's  goal  is  reached  the  troubles  of 
the  world  will  speedily  be  cured  by  racial  extinction. 
National  problems  will  be  solved  by  national  death. 
The  woman's  movement  threatens  to  devote  every 
national  energy  to  making  of  civilisation  a  soft  bed 
on  which  to  put  mankind  to  its  eternal  sleep.  It  has 
succeeded  in  turning  one-half  of  its  best-beloved 
votaresses  into  spinsters,  into  making  a  quarter  of 


THE  WOMAN'S  MOVEMENT       137 

the  other  half  childless  and  setting  a  two-baby  family 
standard  for  the  rest. 

Discussions  of  the  marriage  and  the  fecundity  of 
college  women  are  usually  vitiated  by  the  hypothe- 
sis that  the  effect  of  the  higher  education  alone  is 
under  suspicion.  While  the  statistics  indicate  that  a 
college  training  aggravates  the  disease  of  Feminism 
they  do  not  prove  anything  about  the  effect  of  strenu- 
ous study  upon  woman's  physiological  capacity  for 
child  bearing.  That  married  graduates  lose  by  still- 
births or  premature  births  a  quarter  of  the  babies 
they  conceive,  as  Dr.  Mary  Roberts  Smith  discov- 
ered,^^ indicates  that  either  the  collegiate  develop- 
ment of  their  minds  has  been  at  serious  cost  to  their 
bodies  or  else  that  their  intelligence  Is  not  sufficiently 
practical  to  enable  them  to  care  for  themselves  dur- 
ing the  most  critical  months  of  their  lives. 

But  their  aversion  to  marriage  and  to  child  bear- 
ing is  psychological  as  much  as  physiological.  As 
living  in  a  dark  and  airless  tenement  makes  the  vic- 
tim susceptible  to  tuberculosis,  so  the  higher  educa- 
tion renders  women  susceptible  to  the  germs  of  Fem- 
inism. 

Feminism  does  not  operate  so  injuriously  by  mu- 
tilating women's  bodies  as  by  starving  their  Instincts. 
Women  who  have  studied  hard  for  a  decade,  who 
have  lived  in  college  cloisters  where  no  child's  laugh 

13  See  quarterly  publications  of  American  Statistical  Association, 
March- June,  1900. 


138  FEMINISM 

was  ever  heard,  who  have  then  started  on  a  career, 
straining  every  nerve  to  achieve  success,  their  vital- 
ity daily  drained  in  classroom  or  office,  with  neither 
time  nor  inclination  left  to  fondle  a  baby  or  cultivate 
domesticity;  women  who  have  won  a  salary  and  posi- 
tion as  the  guerdon  of  their  pains,  find  it  hard  to  re- 
tire into  the  privacy  of  a  home  or  to  sacrifice  their 
salary  for  the  joys  of  motherhood.  The  joys  look 
pale,  the  sacrifices  are  patent.  "  It  is  not  easy  for 
a  self-respecting  woman  to  find  a  mate  with  whom 
she  can  live  on  the  terms  demanded  by  her  self-re- 
spect," explains  one  defender.^* 

Why  should  a  five-thousand-dollar  woman  be  a 
mere  cow,  they  sceptically  ask;  why  should  she  aban- 
don a  yearly  trip  to  Paris  as  buyer  or  designer,  a 
growing  medical  practice,  or  a  high  position  in  a 
school  merely  to  attain  an  experience  which  any  dull- 
ard Immigrant  can  equally  achieve?  Or  if  mother- 
hood's appeal  and  a  husband's  wishes  are  strong 
enough  to  make  a  baby  desired,  then  the  interruption 
to  the  career,  the  enforced  seclusion  and  the  financial 
sacrifice  all  militate  against  a  repetition  of  the  ex- 
periment. One  baby  may  be  tolerated  for  the  sake 
of  *'  self-development,"  for  a  supreme  experience 
which  gives  an  added  flavour  to  life.  But  a  second 
time  It  would  be  no  novelty  and  a  third  time  It  would 
be  an  insufferable  handicap.  So  less  than  two 
children  to  each  married  graduate  has  become  the 
rule. 

14  "Marriage  as  a  Trade,"  by  Cicely  Hamilton,  p.  240. 


THE  WOMAN'S  MOVEMENT       139 

"  Tut!  tut!  Why  worry?  "  is  the  retort  of  some 
feminists  to  this  impeachment.  "  Already  there  are 
too  many  babies  born.  Let  the  college  women  go 
childless  and  devote  themselves  to  the  better  care 
and  training  of  the  other  children  of  the  community. 
What  harm?" 

If  one  baby  be  as  good  as  another,  the  child  of  the 
Bohemian  peasant  as  valuable  as  the  child  of  the 
New  England  collegian,  the  infant  Georgian  picca- 
ninny as  desirable  as  the  Infant  Boston  Brahmin, 
then  there  Is  no  cause  for  alarm.  America  is  not 
threatened  Immediately,  like  France,  with  a  diminish- 
ing population.  By  the  fecundity  of  the  Immigrants 
in  the  first  generation  and  by  the  flowing  tide  of  im- 
migration, the  population  of  the  United  States 
mounts  millions  higher  each  decade.  Quantity  we 
have,  enough  and  to  spare.  If  every  creature  born 
of  woman  Is  endowed  equally  with  potential  powers, 
powers  of  mind  and  body  and  spirit,  which  await  only 
a  favouring  environment  for  glorious  development, 
then  the  failure  of  college  women  to  reproduce  them- 
selves is  only  their  own  concern.  The  nation  can 
find  Its  future  governors  and  judges  and  business 
leaders,  its  preachers  and  poets  and  philosophers,  its 
writers  and  thinkers,  its  superintendents  and  man- 
agers, its  bankers  and  brain  workers,  among  the  dull- 
faced,  semi-civilised  victims  of  Europe's  oppressions 
who  are  now  landing  at  Ellis  Island.  In  that  event 
no  social  duty,  no  patriotic  obligation,  can  be  laid 
on  those  women  who  have  been  showered  with  the 


I40  FEMINISM 

choicest  gifts  the  nation  can  offer  to  make  any  return 
by  assuming  the  holy  cares  of  motherhood.  They 
are  alone  the  judges  of  the  loss  they  suffer  In  their 
own  lives  by  being  childless.  If  they  calculate  that 
a  fat  salary  gives  more  comfort  than  a  full  cradle, 
their  neighbours  have  nothing  to  say.  Religion  may 
upbraid  them  for  the  selfishness  of  their  lives,  for 
thwarting  the  purposes  of  the  Creator,  and  for  bely- 
ing the  teachings  of  the  Church;  their  mothers  may 
warn  them  that  nature  cannot  be  mocked  with  Im- 
punity and  that  an  empty  lodging  Is  a  cold  refuge  for 
an  aged  woman's  heart;  and  doctors  may  remind 
them  that  the  full  use  of  the  woman's  bodily  powers 
Is  essential  to  the  woman's  bodily  health.  But  the 
statesman  and  the  sociologist  must  keep  silence.  Of 
mere  humanity  there  Is  abundance.  The  pullulat- 
ing swarms  In  city  gutters,  the  crowded  families  in 
negro  hovels,  offer  raw  material  aplenty  for  the  next 
generation;  and  If  they  be  Innately  as  fine  material 
as  college  women's  babies,  then  there  Is  no  fear  of 
national  decay. 

But  biology  and  history  forbid  the  assumption 
which  leads  to  this  comfortable  conclusion.  Human 
beings  are  not  all  alike  at  birth.  They  differ  In  qual- 
ity equally  with  dogs  and  horses;  one  may  be  a  mon- 
grel, another  a  blue  ribbon  winner.  Nature,  as 
much  as  nurture,  determines  what  a  child  shall  be- 
come. The  family  strain  delimits  the  child's  des- 
tiny. The  budding  science  of  eugenics  is  revealing 
the  incalculable  worth  of  breeding  for  the  improve- 


THE  WOMAN'S  MOVEMENT       141 

ment  of  mankind.  The  infertility  of  the  best  strains 
means  deterioration  of  stock. 

Worse  even  than  Its  race  suicidal  effect  Is  Femi- 
nism's selection  for  sterility  of  the  best  women  in  the 
land.^^  It  provides  that,  pending  Its  final  victory, 
when  all  women  will  be  under  its  sway,  the  nation 
shall  breed  from  Its  worse. 

Granting  that  higher  education  develops  the  mind, 
refines  the  character  and  demands  superior  mental 
powers  the  lack  of  which  causes  the  "  weeding  out  " 
of  a  large  proportion  in  grammar  school  and  high 
school,  we  must  assume  that  college  graduates  are 
the  pick  of  the  nation's  women.  The  ideal  of 
America  is  to  continue  the  rapid  extension  of  oppor- 
tunities for  college  training  until,  as  wealth  increases 
and  parents  come  ever  more  under  the  sway  of 
American  ideas,  every  girl  capable  of  profiting  by  a 
college  education  shall  receive  a  college  education. 

But,  to-day,  a  college  education  brings  In  its  train 
economic  self-support  and  racial  extinction.  In  pro- 
portion as  our  young  girls  show  superior  ability  and 
are  able  to  take  a  higher  education  do  they  cease  to 
bear  children.  So  that  the  goal  of  Americanism,  a 
higher  education  for  everybody,  united  with  the  pro- 
gramme of  Feminism,  economic  independence  for 
woman,  Involves  the  perpetuation  of  a  reduced  na- 
tion by  breeding  from  the  women  who  are  too  dull 

15  Further  evidence  is  contained  in  "  The  Decadence  of  the 
Native  American  Stock,"  by  Frederick  S.  Crura,  quarterly  publica- 
tion, American  Statistical  Association^  September,  1914. 


142  FEMINISM 

for  college.  That  means  breeding  from  the  worse. 
The  ablest  and  best-trained  women  are  to  be  enticed, 
by  college  education  first  and  by  high  salaries  in  busi- 
ness after,  to  sterility.  The  mothers  of  the  nation 
are  to  be  the  half  educated.  When  a  family  rises 
In  mentality  and  social  position  so  that  its  daughters 
can  go  to  Vassar,  Wellesley  or  Bryn  Mawr,  that  fam- 
ily, on  the  daughter's  side,  Is  to  die  out.  We  are  to 
establish  an  Unnatural  Selection  of  the  Fittest  to  die, 
and  the  Unfittest  to  survive. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE   FADING  OF   MATERNAL   INSTINCT 

So  self-evident  is  It  that  society  cannot  sanction 
Its  own  annihilation  that  Feminism  defends  the  com- 
plete avoidance  of  maternity  only  by  a  favoured 
few,  who,  It  claims,  have  a  gift  to  render  superior 
to  offspring.  Frau  Meyreder,  the  German  leader, 
announces  that  "  there  can  be  no  reason  why  women 
who,  for  the  sake  of  intellectual  Interests,  choose  to 
forego  motherhood,  should  be  covered  with  re- 
proach. Only  an  age  which  no  longer  possesses  a 
spiritual  guidance  or  ideals  would  consider  the  avoid- 
ance of  maternity  as  an  objection  to  the  intellectual 
endeavours  of  certain  women."  ^  Such  women 
should  be  supported  by  "  the  general  mass  of 
women,"  argues  the  German  feminist  leader,  be- 
cause "  changes  In  the  social  order  can  be  brought 
about  only  through  such  women  as  have  been  freed 
of  the  limitations  of  the  sex  which  are  in  the  order 
of  nature,  who  vary  from  the  prevailing  type,  and 
who,  through  the  force  of  their  Independence,  at- 
tain to  a  new  conception  of  life.  Such  women,  if 
you  choose,  are  the  *  unwomanly  *  ones  —  no  doubt 
less  useful  for  man  and  the  elemental  sex  purpose, 

i"A  Survey  of  the  Woman  Problem,"  p.  55. 

143 


144  FEMINISM 

and  yet  Indispensable  factors  of  the  advancing  proc- 
esses of  civilisation."  ^ 

Here  are  set  up  the  two  usual  defences  of  well-to- 
do  women  who  avoid  maternity:  i,  Their  work  in 
"securing  changes  in  the  social  order";  and  2, 
"  their  intellectual  endeavours." 

Doubtless  the  unwomanly  women  are  procuring 
"  changes  in  the  social  order."  Whether  this  serv- 
ice compensates  for  their  sterility  depends  upon  the 
social  value  of  the  changes  which  they  procure. 
What  are  these  changes?  What  is  their  effect 
upon  social  welfare?  Such  women  form  the  fight- 
ing phalanx  in  the  woman's  movement.  They  are 
the  pioneer  advocates  of  '*  votes  for  women,"  of  eco- 
nomic self-support  for  women  and  of  sexual  inde- 
pendence for  women.  Their  efforts  are  mainly  di- 
rected towards  smoothing  the  road  along  which  other 
women  may  follow  their  lead  and  in  persuading 
women  in  larger  numbers  to  advance  after  them. 
Unfortunately  for  their  contention,  in  proportion  as 
the  changes  l"n  the  social  order  which  they  advo- 
cate are  established,  the  number  of  childless  women 
increases.  The  success  of  the  pioneers  but  hastens 
the  day  of  national  decay.  Their  alternative  social 
service  but  increases  the  social  danger.  It  Is  an  ag- 
gravation, not  an  extenuation  of  their  offence. 
These  women  are  in  the  same  position  as  a  man  who 
should  claim  to  compensate  society  for  his  own  re- 
fusal to  work  for  a  living  by  persuading  other  men 

2" A  Survey  of  the  Woman  Problem,"  p.  63. 


FADING  OF  MATERNAL  INSTINCT     145 

to  join  him  in  a  strike  against  work.  A  hobo  can- 
not justify  his  hoboism  by  recruiting  an  army  of  ho- 
boes. Rebellion  against  motherhood  Is  not  conse- 
crated by  organising  a  general  strike  against 
motherhood. 

What  are  the  "  intellectual  endeavours  "  which 
can  rightly  be  considered  so  much  more  valuable  than 
child  bearing;  what  occupations  are  deemed  suffi- 
cient to  excuse  a  woman  for  avoiding  it?  She  who 
avoids  motherhood  in  order  to  leave  herself  free  for 
social  pleasures,  bridge,  dancing  and  the  like,  is  gen- 
erally condemned. 

If  she  avoids  It  in  order  to  earn  a  salary  and  en- 
joy independence,  she  is  criticised  still  by  some, 
though  by  a  smaller  number. 

If  she  be  highly  gifted,  a  great  singer  or  actress 
or  public  entertainer,  we  more  readily  excuse  her 
from  maternal  duties. 

For  the  sake  of  high  intellectual  achievements,  to 
a  George  Eliot,  a  Rosa  Bonheur,  or  Harriet  Mar- 
tineau,  we  still  more  readily  grant  exemption. 

For  the  sake  of  public  service,  patriotism,  philan- 
thropy, a  Florence  Nightingale,  a  Clara  Barton,  a 
Joan  of  Arc,  a  Jane  Addams,  a  Susan  B.  Anthony, 
a  St.  Theresa,  we  not  only  excuse  from  maternity  but 
we  rejoice  that  celibacy  left  them  free  for  service  to 
mankind  of  a  '^  wider  "  sort. 

Thus  it  transpires  that  the  higher  the  type  of 
woman,  the  more  readily  we  excuse  her  from  mother- 
hood; the  more  we  encourage  her  to  do  something 


146  FEMINISM 

else  beside  reproduce  her  kind,  the  more  we  applaud 
her  success  In  other  than  maternal  offices. 

Race  Improvement  under  such  circumstances  Is  a 
Utopia  which  ever  recedes.  When  the  finer  a 
woman  is  the  more  readily  we  excuse  her  from  per- 
petuating her  good  qualities,  we  are  making  sure  of 
racial  degeneration,  using  up  the  human  capital  and 
inviting  national  bankruptcy.^ 

A  woman  of  splendid  gifts  or  highest  character, 
who  eschews  matrimony,  completely  avoids  mater- 
nity. But  the  loss  of  the  best  elements  in  the  popu- 
lation is  due,  in  large  part,  also,  to  the  avoidance 
of  maternity,  complete  or  partial,  by  favoured  women 
in  large  numbers,  women  for  whom  society  has  done 
most,  women  who  marry  but  either  deliberately 
remain  childless  or  restrict  their  family  to  one 
child. 

Old-fashioned  readers,  who  regard  babies  as 
heaven  sent,  the  natural  fruit  of  marriage,  given  or 
denied  according  to  a  fate  which  the  parents  can- 
not control,  will  be  aghast  at  the  assumption  that, 
even   when    married,    people    accept   or    renounce 

3  The  case  would  be  still  worse  if  gifted  men,  too,  were  en- 
couraged to  embrace  celibacy  (as  they  were  under  the  disastrously 
dysgenic  influence  of  raonasticism),  in  order  to  give  their  undivided 
time  to  "  serving  humanity  in  a  wider  manner."  To  some  extent 
the  rising  standards  of  living  are  operating  to  shut  oflf  the  most 
highly  organised  of  men,  as  well  as  women,  from  parenthood,  but 
the  case  is  less  alarming  on  the  masculine  side  because  success  for 
man  encourages  his  marriage,  while  for  woman  success  encourages 
celibacy. 


FADING  OF  MATERNAL  INSTINCT     147 

parenthood  at  their  pleasure.  That  educated  per- 
sons, men  and  women,  can  and  do  exercise  this  pre- 
rogative is  a  new  and  dominant  factor  in  Feminism. 
No  longer  is  the  birth  rate  controlled  by  nature, 
its  restriction  dependent  upon  ascetic  self-restraint. 
The  Malthusian  doctrine  that  population  tends  to 
increase  faster  than  the  means  of  subsistence  has 
been  superseded  by  the  Neo-Malthusian  doctrine 
that  husband  and  wife,  while  continuing  to  cohabit, 
can  and  should  regulate  the  number  of  the  offspring 
with  respect  not  merely  to  the  means  of  subsistence 
but  to  their  own  love  of  luxury.  Young  girls  and 
engaged  couples  discuss  with  amazing  frankness, 
wherever  women  have  been  "  freed,"  the  precise 
number  of  children  they  will  bear  and  the  conditions 
under  which  they  will  consent  to  bear  them.  The 
deliberate  prevention  of  conception,  not  the  physio- 
logical incapacity  to  conceive,  is  the  main  cause  of 
infertility. 

How  widespread  is  this  practice  is  revealed  in  the 
unique  and  most  authoritative  Report  of  the  Royal 
Commission  on  the  Decline  of  the  Birth  Rate  in  New 
South  Wales,  where  Feminism  is  more  advanced 
than  in  America,  and  the  statistics  of  births  are  anal- 
agous  to  the  American  college  statistics. 

The  commission  reports: 

"  We  are  satisfied  that  the  statistics  show 

a.  That  a  decline  of  birth  rate  in  recent  years 
has  characterised  all  the  States  of  Australia 


148  FEMINISM 

and  New  Zealand;  also  the  United  King- 
dom; also  many  of  the  large  cities  of  Europe, 
the  United  States,  and  South  America. 
b.  That  there  was  in  New  South  Wales  a  sud- 
den, remarkable  fall  in  birth  rate  in  the 
year  1889,  followed  by  a  continuous  and 
rapid  decline,  until,  in  1902,  the  total  de- 
cline had  exceeded  ten  per  thousand  of  popu- 
lation." 

The  report  of  the  commission  further  states: 

"  There  is  no  evidence  of  any  increase  of  physio- 
logical sterility  in  women  in  New  South  Wales,"  but 

*'  The  conclusions  which  we  draw  from  the  evi- 
dence on  this  branch  of  our  subject  are  inevitable; 
namely,  that  there  Is  a  diminution  in  fecundity  and 
fertility  in  recent  years,  which  is  due  to : 

a.  Deliberate  prevention  of  conception,  and  de- 
struction of  embryonic  life; 

b.  Pathological  causes  consequent  upon  the 
means  used  and  the  practices  involved 
therein." 

"  Prevention,"  it  was  further  testified,  "  is  com- 
monly advocated  in  all  classes  of  society  "  in  New 
South  Wales  "  except  among  the  very  lowest,"  as 
the  slight  evidence  available  suggests  is  also  the 
case  in  England  and  in  the  United  States.  Yet  the 
number  of  children  born  on  the  average  to  each  fam- 
ily in  New  South  Wales  when  the  marriage  is  con- 


FADING  OF  MATERNAL  INSTINCT     149 

tracted  before  the  age  of  thirty  is  over  three.* 
But,  though  the  average  age  at  marriage  of  the 
women  college  graduates  in  America  is  also  less  than 
thirty,  the  issue  of  the  marriages  on  the  average 
is  less  than  two.  In  France,  also,  the  classic  exam- 
ple of  the  perils  of  excessive  family  restriction, 
where  the  population  is  stationary,  and  in  some  De- 
partments is  declining,  the  fecundity  even  of  the 
least  fecund,  the  intellectual  classes,  surpasses  the 
fecundity  of  American  college  women.  To  every 
hundred  families  in  France  among  the  liberal  pro- 
fessions 305  children  are  born,  half  as  many  more 
as  are  born  to  the  married  women  graduates  of 
American  colleges.*^ 

So  that  France,  the  standing  warning  to  the  world 
of  the  dangers  of  extreme  limitation  of  families, 
yet  maintains  a  healthier  rate  of  growth  even  among 
those  classes  who  most  restrict  their  families  than  is 
maintained  by  the  finest  product  of  American  educa- 
tion and  American  Feminism. 

This  diseased  condition  In  whole  sections  of  so- 
ciety, this  abnegation  of  the  will  to  live,  brings  hus- 
bands as  well  as  wives  under  condemnation. 

But  responsibility  for  the  failure  to  reproduce 
must  be  laid  mainly  upon  the  wives,  both  because 

*See  Exhibit  34  in  Report  of  Royal  Commission  on  the  Decline 
of  the  Birth  Rate  in  New  South  Wales,  1904, 

^  "  The  Fertility  of  Marriages  According  to  Profession  and  Social 
Position,"  by  M.  Lucien  March,  Directeur  de  la  Statistique  Generale 
de  la  France,  in  the  Report  of  First  International  Eugenics  Con- 
gress, London,  1912, 


ISO  FEMINISM 

the  evidence  already  cited  shows  that  college  men 
do  In  fact  accept  paternity  more  fully  than  college 
women  accept  maternity,  and  also  because,  notably 
in  America,  the  wife,  particularly  in  educated  cir- 
cles, is  treated  so  justly  by  the  husband  that  her 
wishes  as  to  the  number  of  her  children  usually  pre- 
vail. Occasional  cases  can  be  cited  of  the  refusal 
of  a  husband  to  second  a  wife's  desire  for  children; 
but  such  rare  instances  are  of  little  weight  against  the 
bulk  of  evidence.  It  is  impossible  to  credit  that 
college  women  marry  men  who  shirk  paternity,  while 
noncollege  women  marry  men  who  desire  paternity. 
Much  more  likely  is  it  that  the  readiness  of  the 
American  husband  to  save  his  wife  the  discomfort, 
pain  and  seclusion  of  maternity  is  partly  responsi- 
ble for  her  successful  avoidance  of  woman's  natural 
burden.  Were  he  dominating,  brutal  and  impul- 
sive, careless  of  her  desires  and  indifferent  to  her 
pain,  as  feminists  sometimes  picture  him,  she  could 
not  escape  the  fruitage  of  marriage.  Upon  a  mat- 
ter so  private  and  delicate  direct  evidence  it  is  well- 
nigh  impossible  to  procure;  but  the  evidence  given 
before  the  Royal  Commission  in  New  South  Wales, 
given  under  responsibility  and  subject  to  sifting  cross- 
examination,  the  evidence  of  doctors,  clergymen  and 
drug  dealers,  proved  that  women  expressed  the  de- 
sire to  avoid  maternity  and  took  positive  action  in 
accordance  with  their  wishes. 

**  Would   Humanism,    then,"    it   will   be    asked, 
"  urge  women  to  bear,  fatalistically,  all  the  family 


FADING  OF  MATERNAL  INSTINCT     151 

physiologically  possible  ?  "  By  no  means.  Fami- 
lies of  six,  eight  and  more  exhaust  the  mother's 
strength  before  her  time  and  condemn  the  young  ones 
to  neglect  and  ill-training.  Prudential  restraint  is 
advantageous  not  only  to  the  individual  families  but 
to  society.  Reckless  multiplication  is  a  mark  of  in- 
ferior civilisation. 

Feeble-minded  and  degenerate  parents,  whose 
progeny  would  inevitably  people  our  prisons  and 
poorhouses,  should,  indeed,  be  safeguarded  against 
parenthood  or  marrying.  The  tuberculous  and 
those  with  any  hereditary  taint  merit  warm  enco- 
miums for  refraining  from  parenthood.  Wives 
with  diseased  or  vicious  husbands  whose  traits  of 
character  or  defects  of  body  they  shrink  from  im- 
posing on  another  generation,  are  to  be  deeply  pitied, 
not  harshly  blamed.  Those  few  who  are  cursed  to 
sterility  as  a  result  of  some  man's  vices  may  be  par- 
doned any  bitterness  in  their  hostility  towards  men 
in  general. 

These  exceptional,  pathological  cases  and  all 
whose  too  numerous  offspring  are  condemned  to 
semi-starvation  and  brutalised  ignorance,  should  be 
the  first  beneficiaries  of  medical  advice  and  aid. 

But  it  is  one  of  life's  large  ironies  that  the  knowl- 
edge of  preventive  checks  on  population  which  was 
spread  for  the  purpose  of  staying  the  multiplica- 
tion of  the  least  fit,  has  been  utilised,  not  by  them, 
but  by  the  most  fit,  those  best  able,  both  in  wealth 
and  in  brains,   to   rear  fine   children.     What  was 


152  FEMINISM 

meant  for  the  poor  has  been  seized  by  the  rich. 
And  thus  a  differential,  ill-balanced  birth-rate  has 
been  established.  The  well-to-do  have  not  been  sat- 
isfied to  reduce  their  contribution  of  children  to  a  de- 
sirable, patriotic  limit;  they  are  shirking  a  full  half 
of  their  fair  contribution. 

Though  official  evidence  has  never  been  taken  in 
America  to  prove  that  the  voluntary  limitation  of 
family  by  the  same  means  as  are  universally  prac- 
tised in  New  South  Wales  Is  the  explanation  of  the 
suicidally  low  birth  rate  In  some  classes,  yet  circum- 
stantial and  unofficial  evidence  is  abundant.  In  a 
book  written  by  a  feminist,  Lydia  K.  Commander, 
much  of  this  evidence  is  collated.  Summing  up,  she 
states:  "  The  knowledge  of  how  to  control  family 
scarcely  existed  In  America  two  generations  ago. 
Now  It  Is  practically  universal.  To-day  thousands 
of  physicians  In  this  country  make  a  practice  of  dis- 
seminating the  knowledge  of  how  to  avoid  chil- 
dren"; and  again:  "The  physicians  who  have 
never  advised  any  woman  against  child  bearing,  and 
explained  to  her  how  to  avoid  It,  appear  to  be  few 
In  number.''  "  Many  people,  however,  are  not  de- 
pendent upon  physicians  for  such  knowledge.  It  Is 
widespread,  almost  universal  among  intelligent 
Americans.  The  vast  majority  know  how  to  con- 
trol the  size  of  the  family,  and  do  so  deliber- 
ately." 6 

As  to  the  relative  responsibility  of  men  and  of 

•"The  American  Idea,"  pp.  90  to  92. 


FADING  OF  MATERNAL  INSTINCT     153 

women  assumed  in  this  matter,  the  same  witness  tes- 
tifies: *'  The  strongest  opposition  to  family  is,  how- 
ever, coming  from  women.  The  control  of  repro- 
duction is  now  largely  in  their  hands,  and  they  are 
unfavourable  to  maintaining  such  a  birth-rate  as  will 
be  for  the  benefit  of  the  nation." 

This  outcome,  repugnant  upon  first  view,  is  so  in- 
evitable that  it  might  have  been  anticipated. 
Women  are  the  temples  of  the  race.  They  live 
through  their  children  more  than  do  men.  Nor- 
mally man  desires  a  wife  for  the  sake  of  having 
the  woman;  woman  desires  a  husband  for  the  sake 
of  having  the  child.  Man  seeks  the  woman  in  the 
wife;  woman  seeks  the  child  in  the  husband.  Nor- 
mally woman  lives  through  her  children,  man  lives 
through  his  work.  But  Feminism  destroys  this  dis- 
tinction. It  wants  woman  also  to  live  through  her 
work,  lucrative  work  pursued  through  life.  Just 
as  man's  life  in  his  work  has  made  minor  his  life 
in  his  children,  so,  in  proportion  as  woman's  life  is  in 
her  work,  her  life  is  made  minor  in  her  children. 
She  cannot  be  deeply  involved  both  in  children  and 
in  outside  work.  As  her  pursuits  become  mannish, 
so  will  her  preferences.  And  already  the  results  are 
in  evidence  in  the  decay  and  extinction  of  families. 

Man's  natural  desire  for  the  woman  is  far  stronger 
than  woman's  desire  for  the  man.  He  may  want 
no  children,  but  he  cannot  escape  wanting  a  wife. 
But  when  the  woman  wants  no  children  she  is  apt 
to  want  no  husband.     Man  may  be  nonpaternal  but 


154  FEMINISM 

the  race  will  endure ;  but  when  woman  is  nonmaternal 
the  race  will  perish. 

Desire  for  children  is  not  an  ineradicable  instinct 
in  woman.  It  can  be  destroyed;  it  has  been  de- 
stroyed. Put  a  woman  till  she  is  thirty  under  the 
same  training  and  environment  as  a  man;  cultivate 
in  her  the  same  ambitions;  subject  her  to  the  same 
sort  of  strain;  deprive  her  of  baby  companionship; 
strip  her  of  family  life,  and  the  dormant  desire  for 
children  of  her  own  may  never  wake  or  may  stir 
so  drowsily  that  it  is  stifled  by  other  desires.  Pre- 
cisely as  happens  with  men.  But  with  men  nature 
has  avoided  the  danger  of  race  extinction  by  implant- 
ing a  strong  sexual  craving;  with  women  nature  has 
supplied  no  such  safeguard.  The  training  and  en- 
vironment that  narcotise  her  maternal  longings  also 
narcotise  her  feebler  sexual  craving.  And,  conse- 
quently, half  the  college  women  graduates  do  not 
marry,  and  a  quarter  of  those  who  do  marry  are 
childless.  Their  desire  for  maternity  has  proved 
too  feeble  to  overcome  the  obstacles  to  maternity. 
In  more  romantic  terms,  they  have  failed  to  fall 
in  love  and  to  rouse  a  lover.  While  the  blood  ran 
hot  through  their  youthful  veins  and  their  tide  of 
life  surged  fullest,  they  were  preoccupied  with  win- 
ning degrees  and  professional  standing.  They  were 
too  wide  awake  to  dream  love's  sweet  dream.  Cu- 
pid's arrow  could  not  pierce  the  text  book  or  the 
ledger  that  armoured  their  heart.  A  lover  would 
have  been  a  distraction  favourable  neither  to  college 


FADING  OF  MATERNAL  INSTINCT     155 

standing  nor  professional  advancement.  A  home 
was  less  alluring  than  a  business  appointment,  a  baby 
than  an  increase  in  salary.  So  that  the  natural 
period  for  romance  flew  by  and  Dame  Nature's  chief 
weapon  was  blunted.  Middle-age  calculation  set 
down  marriage  as  a  losing  gamble  and  celibacy  was 
idealised  as  a  life  of  freedom  and  self-development. 
Yearnings  for  an  infant  to  fondle  could  not  over- 
throw the  yearnings  for  success  in  a  career.  A  hes- 
itating lover  was  repulsed  because  blood  and  heart 
were  not  prepared  to  give  a  lover  welcome.  So  was 
consummated  the  tragedy  of  the  woman's  existence, 
the  extinguishing  of  the  torch  of  Hfe  which  had  been 
handed  down  to  her  through  the  generations.  So 
the  deterioration  of  the  national  stock  was  hastened; 
so  the  worst  bhght  of  Feminism  afflicted  the  land. 

The  cure  which  Feminism  advocates  for  the  dis- 
eased birth  rate  is  to  make  such  social  arrangements 
that  women  may  have  work  without  foregoing 
motherhood;  that  Is,  to  combine  outside  pursuits 
with  maternal  activity.  This  Is  a  quack  remedy 
which  would  only  aggravate  the  disease.  It  at- 
tempts to  restore  health  by  another  dose  of  the 
poison.  As  feminists  themselves  are  compelled  to 
admit,  "  It  is  significant  that  simultaneously  with 
the  decline  of  marriage  and  child  bearing,  the  num- 
ber of  wage-earning  women  has  steadily  Increased. 
The  business  woman  seems  not  to  be  prolific. 
Rarely  can  a  woman  manage  a  business  career  and 
a  large  family  at  once.     When  she  does  so  the  fam- 


156  FEMINISM 

ily  IS  a  terrible  handicap.  Even  a  few  children  seri- 
ously disturb  a  business  or  professional  career."  "^ 

Analogous  evidence  is  offered  by  numerous 
women:  "  A  doctor  who  has  been  practising  for  a 
number  of  years  largely  among  working  women  said: 
*  Women  simply  cannot  have  many  children  and 
work  away  from  home.  They  can  manage  one  or 
two,  but  not  more.  They  find  they  must  either  neg- 
lect the  children  or  the  business,  and  whichever  they 
slight  they  are  apt  to  be  dissatisfied.  The  usual  way 
is  to  leave  the  family  out.' 

"  A  woman  dentist,  with  one  little  girl,  said:  *  I 
can't  have  more  children  because  I'm  so  busy  with 
my  profession,  and  I  cannot  get  a  competent  person 
to  care  for  the  baby.  I  should  have  to  give  it  much 
of  my  time  and  let  my  practice  run  down.  It  is  out 
of  the  question.' 

"  A  business  woman  with  two  children  said:  *  I 
am  fortunate  in  having  my  mother  live  with  me,  for 
I  can  trust  the  children  in  her  hands.  In  other  cir- 
cumstances I  should  not  have  been  at  liberty  to  have 
children.' 

"  A  doctor,  with  twenty  years'  practice  and  much 
interested  in  sociology,  said:  *  The  wage-earning 
woman  fails  to  have  children  because  she  cannot 
make  motherhood  and  industry  co-existent.' 

"  Another  physician  said :     *  Women  in  all  ranks 

of  life   are   leaving  housework   for  the   industrial 

world  and  the  family  is  disappearing  in  consequence. 

7  "The  American  Idea,"  pp.  193  and  194,  by  L.  K.  Commander. 


FADING  OF  MATERNAL  INSTINCT     157 

When  a  woman  loves  her  profession  she  will  work 
at  it  and  will  not  have  children  when  they  interfere 
with  it;  "  8 

Concerning  France,  M.  Henri  Bordeaux  writes: 
"  The  daywork  of  women  has  been  the  death  of 
the  home."  ^ 

Humanism  recognises  that  it  is  impossible  in  nature 
for  a  woman  at  the  same  time  to  bear  and  rear  chil- 
dren and  to  drain  her  strength  in  an  outside  occupa- 
tion. Either  child  or  business  must  suffer.  Sensi- 
tive women  with  a  natural  love  for  their  children 
abandon  the  business;  tough-minded  women,  wedded 
indissolubly  to  their  money-making,  let  the  children 
suffer.  Unfortunate  mothers,  compelled  by  poverty 
to  continue  at  work,  know  that  their  children  are  neg- 
lected, and  heart  break  at  home  is  added  to  physical 
exhaustion  at  work.  Society  cannot  adopt  the  fem- 
inist rule  and  attempt  to  adjust  child  bearing  to  in- 
dustry except  by  adopting  the  feminist  psychology 
and  admitting  that  children  are  less  important  than 
material  production.  If  the  children  are  to  come 
first,  then  the  mother  must  care  for  them.  Espe- 
cially in  the  first  five  years  they  cannot  be  reared 
by  factory  methods.  They  must  be  hand  trained. 
Attempts  to  liberate  the  mother  for  business  by  put- 
ting a  dozen  or  two  of  babies  under  one  nurse,  mean 
the  destruction  of  the  babies.  Even  the  single, 
hired,  nurse  girl  is  a  rank  failure,  from  the  baby*s 

8  "The  American  Idea,"  by  L.  K.  Commander,  pp.  194-195. 
^Atlantic  Monthly,  February,  1915. 


158'  FEMINISM 

point  of  view.  That  child  is  best  guarded  in  the 
most  critical  stage  of  its  life  journey,  whose  mother, 
scorning  money  making  and  social  pleasures  alike, 
with  a  sufficient  income  earned  by  the  husband  for 
reasonable  comfort  and  freedom  from  anxiety,  her- 
self spends  with  her  child  the  greater  part  of  each 
day. 

Humanism  says  that  life  must  not  be  mutilated 
to  fit  industry.  Industry  must  be  adjusted  to  fit  life. 
The  woman  who  begrudges  her  own  children  a 
few  years  of  her  undivided  attention,  perhaps  can- 
not be  suppressed,  but  she  need  not  be  admired. 
Her  example  is  pernicious,  her  ethics  immoral,  her 
selfishness  destructive  to  the  nation.  Fortunately 
nature  decrees  an  effective  remedy  against  her  per- 
manent influence.  She  becomes  extinct.  She  is  su- 
perseded by  the  other  type  of  woman  "  whose  chil- 
dren rise  up  and  call  her  blessed." 

To  the  humanist  suggestion  that  motherhood  is 
the  happiest,  highest  and  most  socially  valuable  of 
all  careers  for  women,  it  is  often  retorted  that  it  is 
useless  to  advocate  marriage  for  all  women  because 
there  are  so  many  more  women  than  men  that  mil- 
lions are  spinsters  by  natural  necessity.  Unhappily 
for  Great  Britain  her  reckless  policy,  pursued 
through  centuries,  of  sending  her  sons  to  possess 
the  distant  parts  of  the  empire  has  left  her  with 
more  than  a  million  and  a  half  of  these  "  super- 
fluous "  women. 

But  in  this  matter,  as  in  so  many  others,  a  special 


FADING  OF  MATERNAL  INSTINCT     159 

Providence  seems  to  have  cared  for  America.  In 
the  United  States  among  the  adult  population, 
twenty-one  years  of  age  and  over,  there  are  no 
males  to  every  100  females.  The  total  excess  of 
adult  males,  according  to  the  census  reports  of  19 10, 
is  2,443,397.  So  the  men  suffer  the  grievance. 
Thei  men  have  the  excuse  for  celibacy,  for  becoming 
the  army  of  the  dissatisfied,  while  each  adult  woman 
has  the  chance  of  one  husband  and  a  fraction  of  a 
hu'sband  over. 

True,  this  excess  of  men  doomed  by  fate  to  bache- 
lorhood is  not  evenly  distributed  among  all  classes 
and  in  all  districts.  But  among  the  native  whites  of 
native  parentage,  the  blue-blooded  families,  the  nat- 
ural aristocracy  of  birth,  the  classes  in  which  move 
the  women  college  graduates  half  of  whom  remain 
single,  there  is  a  greater  proportion  of  men  to 
women,  105.8  men  to  100  women,  than  among  those 
of  foreign  or  mixed  parentage,  or  than  among  the 
negroes.  The  natural  opportunity  for  the  high- 
grade  white  woman  to  marry  one  of  her  own  kind 
actually  exceeds  the  natural  opportunity  of  the  ne- 
gress.^^ 

^^  Males  to  loo  Females 
21    years    of    age    and 
over  {1910) 

United    States  —  total     iio.o 

Native  white  of  native  parentage 105.8 

Native  white  of  foreign  or  mixed  parentage 98.5 

Foreign  born  whites 132.7 

Negroes 101.3 


i6o  FEMINISM 

Again,  in  some  States  there  is  a  slight  dearth  of 
marriageable  men,  though  nowhere  so  marked  a 
dearth  as  there  is  in  several  States  of  marriageable 
women.  In  Massachusetts  there  are  only  95  adult 
men  to  each  100  adult  women.  But  to  redress  the 
balance  the  superfluous  women  have  but  to  travel  by 
trolley  across  the  border  into  Vermont,  Maine  or 
Connecticut,  where  the  men  outnumber  the  women 
in  a  like  proportion.  While  taking  the  States  of 
New  England  together  there  is  a  slight  preponder- 
ance of  women,  a  few  miles  away  in  the  State  of  New 
York  there  is  an  equal  preponderance  of  men. 

In  the  Rocky  Mountain  and  Pacific  Coast  States, 
the  men  would  indeed  be  in  a  parlous  condition  were 
transportation  to  other  States  whence  wives  can  be 
won  by  peaceful  methods  not  so  easy.  In  Nevada 
and  Wyoming  men  outnumber  women  more  than 
two  to  one,  and  in  Arizona,  Montana,  Idaho,  Wash- 
ington and  Oregon  by  more  than  three  to  two. 
Such  unnatural  discrepancies  led  in  ancient  times  to 
adventures  like  the  rape  of  the  Sabine  women;  to- 
day they  cause  nothing  more  sensational  than  trips 
East  in  search  of  a  sweetheart.^^ 

11  Males  to  loo  Males  to  100 

Females  21  Females 

and  over.  oil  ages. 

98.8        New  England 99-3 

105.6        Middle  Atlantic 103.3 

109.2        Great  North  Central 106.0 

116.2         West  North  Central  109.9 

102.1        South  Atlantic  101.2 


FADING  OF  MATERNAL  INSTINCT     i6i 

In  the  distribution  of  population,  then,  there  is 
no  explanation  of  the  maldistribution  of  the  birth 
rate.  It  is  by  preference,  not  by  natural  necessity, 
that  the  most  highly  educated  women  eschew  matri- 
mony. If  custom  and  current  opinion  approved  the 
woman  exhibiting  as  much  enterprise  in  moving 
across  the  country  to  find  a  location  favourable  to 
matrimony  as  a  man  shows  in  seeking  a  location 
favourable  to  business,  she  would  never  need  to 
travel  far  to  place  herself  where  women  are  at  a 
premium.     Men,  not  women,  are  "  superfluous." 

Males  to  loo  Males  to  loo 

Females  21  Females 

and  over.  all  ages. 

loz.g        Great  South  Central    101.9 

113.8  West  South  Central loy.a 

148.6  Mountain  127.9 

144.9  Pacific 129.5 

104.4         Maine   103.2 

loi.o        New  Hampshire 100.9 

106.2         Vermont 105.3 

95.1  Massachusetts  96.7 

98.5  Rhode  Island    99.3 

103.7  Connecticut    102.3 

102.9  New  York 101.2 

105.2  Pennsylvania    105.9 


CHAPTER  XIV 

HUMANIST   EDUCATION   FOR  WOMEN 

The  failure  of  women's  colleges,  from  the  human- 
ist point  of  view,  has  been  due  largely  to  their  aping 
of  men's  colleges.  Humanism  would  recognise  the 
equal  right  of  women  with  men  to  an  education 
adapted  to  their  natures  and  to  their  minds.  It 
would  aim  to  transform  education  for  girls  and 
women  so  that  it  would  not  starve  the  feminine  in- 
stincts, exhaust  the  physical  vitality  or  direct  the 
mind  and  heart  away  from  homemaking  to  the  desert 
of  money-making.     What  changes  are  necessary? 

The  curriculum  should  be  adapted  from  the  gram- 
mar school  onward  to  the  girl's  psychology,  to  her 
physical  life  and  to  her  natural  career.  Already  a 
small  beginning  has  been  made  by  the  teaching  of 
cooking  and  housecraft  in  grammar  schools,  in  a 
few  schools  (for  instance.  In  New  York  City) ,  model 
flats  in  which  housekeeping  in  all  its  parts  may  be 
practised,  being  part  of  the  equipment.  Every  girl 
who  completes  the  grammar  school  course  should  be 
familiar  with  the  rudiments  of  mothercraft  and 
homemaking  and  every  high  school  should  offer  a 
full  course  in  domestic  science  and  art  or  Home 
Economics  and  in  caring  for  the  baby.  Surely  to 
adolescent  girls  these  are  more  suitable  and  profit- 

162 


HUMANIST  EDUCATION  163 

able  than  botany  and  geometry  or  typewriting  and 
stenography. 

Even  common  subjects  should  not  be  taught  to 
girls  in  the  identical  mode  as  to  boys.  In  19 14  the 
Board  of  Superintendents  of  the  City  of  New  York, 
having  awakened  to  the  fact  that  a  girl's  mind,  in 
order  of  development  and  mode  of  action  is  not  a 
dupHcate  of  a  boy's  mind,  approved  special  courses 
of  study  in  history,  chemistry,  physics,  etc.,  for  girls 
in  high  schools.  To  make  her  follow  the  same  in- 
tellectual path,  step  for  step,  as  her  brother,  is  to  do 
her  the  same  injustice  as  to  set  a  boy  with  a  musical 
gift  to  study  painting  or  a  born  draughtsman  to  fol- 
low medicine.  Girls  do  not  attain  as  high  a  standard 
as  boys  in  the  study  of  geometry  and  physics;  they 
do  excellent  work  in  language  study  and  in  the  arts. 
Boys  will  make  sacrifices  to  indulge  in  athletic  sports ; 
girls  will  readily  relinquish  athletic  sports.  "  Male 
and  female  created  he  them,"  different  in  tastes  and 
mentality,  each  as  good  as  the  other,  each  capable 
of  great  achievement,  each  requiring  a  training 
suited  to  their  special  faculties. 

In  colleges  the  differentiation  of  studies  Human- 
ism would  make  more  marked.  Here  the  young 
woman  is  nearing  the  period  of  Romance,  a  period 
which  does  not  mean  to  her  the  same  as  it  means 
to  the  young  man.  Falling  in  love  to  him  suggests 
harder  work  at  business,  a  closer  application  to 
money-making;  for,  pending  the  feminist  millennium, 
it    implies    maintaining   wife    and    children.     So  it 


1 64  FEMINISM 

spurs  him  to  keener  preparation  for  a  career,  to 
closer  application  to  the  bread-and-butter  studies. 
But  to  the  young  woman  it  suggests  naturally  the 
holier  cares  of  maternity,  the  creation  of  a  home, 
the  escape  from  the  dusty  strife  of  store  or  factory 
or  office. 

So  Humanism,  in  arranging  college  studies  for 
women,  instead  of  copying  the  studies  that  have  been 
evolved  for  men,  would  start  afresh  to  discover  what 
science,  what  art,  what  literature  will  best  prepare 
the  woman  adequately  to  meet  all  the  probable  ex- 
periences of  her  later  life.  Humanism  would  not 
anticipate  that  any  but  unfortunate  women  will  be  re- 
quired to  earn  a  livelihood  outside  of  the  home  after 
marriage.  It  would  safeguard  the  interests  of  the 
majority,  who  should  become  wives  and  mothers, 
by  first  supplying  their  needs.  It  would  adapt  the 
academic  studies  to  young  women,  frankly  ad- 
mitting, for  instance,  that  the  fondness  and  aptitude 
of  young  men  for  stiff  mathematical  problems. 
Is  not  a  good  reason  for  loading  the  course  in 
physics  for  young  women  with  mathematical  prob- 
lems. 

Humanism  would  recognise  that  abounding  vital- 
ity, amiability  and  cheerfulness  are  more  valuable 
assets  to  a  normal  woman  than  stores  of  learning 
on  abstruse  topics.  It  would  deny  a  diploma  to  any 
girl  sickly  at  graduation,  as  a  law  school  would  deny 
a  diploma  to  a  student  unable  to  speak  or  write 
grammatically.     Health  to  the  woman  is  as  essential 


HUMANIST  EDUCATION  165 

to  the  happy  discharge  of  her  primary  social  obliga- 
tion, the  bearing  of  children,  as  correct  speech  to  the 
discharge  of  the  lawyer's  primary  obligation,  the 
skilful  practice  of  law.  A  sickly  man  may  make  a 
good  lawyer;  a  sickly  woman  cannot  make  a  good 
mother. 

Humanism  would  recognise  the  superiority  of 
home  teaching  by  a  capable  mother  for  young  chil- 
dren over  teaching  by  factory  methods,  wholesale, 
in  public  schools.  It  would  therefore  equip  the  col- 
lege student  with  that  modicum  of  psychology  and 
pedagogy  needful  to  enable  her  to  give  her  future  off- 
spring in  early  years  the  home  tuition  which  only 
the  richest  families  now  offer  through  private  gov- 
ernesses. 

Humanism  would  encourage  the  schools  of  house- 
hold craft  and  mothercraft  beginning  to  appear  in 
connection  with  women's  colleges.  The  technique 
of  baby  care,  of  homemaking,  of  household  budgets 
and  the  like  is  a  more  appropriate  acquisition  for  a 
woman  than  ancient  history  and  Greek  roots  —  un- 
less it  be  expected  that  she  shall  earn  a  livelihood 
by  lecturing  on  those  subjects. 

Above  all.  Humanism  would  make  the  atmos- 
phere of  women's  colleges  favourable  to  matrimony. 
Semiconventual  institutions  it  would  discountenance. 
Separation  from  young  men  during  the  critical  years 
when  the  young  woman's  being  glows  with  romantic 
warmth  is  as  abhorrent  to  nature  as  it  would  be  to 
plant  in  one  county  the  trees  of  a  species  which  car- 


1 66  FEMINISM 

ries  the  male  pollen-bearing  flowers  and  the  trees 
that  carry  the  female  seed-bearing  flowers  in  another 
county. 

Not  that  study  of  the  same  subjects  side  by  side 
Is  essential  to  mutual  understanding  and  sympathy, 
nor  that  co-educational  colleges  have  proven  much 
more  favourable  to  marriage  than  exclusively  female 
colleges.  Inconclusive  statistics  of  Illinois  Univer- 
sity, for  example,  show  a  like  tendency  on  the  part  of 
the  women  graduates  to  cehbacy  and  sterility  as  Vas- 
sar  and  Wellesley.  One  investigation  showed  that 
nearly  50  per  cent,  of  co-educational  women  mar- 
ried before  the  age  of  30,  and  40  per  cent,  of  the 
women  from  separate  colleges.  Even  co-educa- 
tional colleges  may  be  anti-domestic,  though  they 
may  more  readily  than  conventual  colleges  be  made 
humanist. 

It  is  dangerous  to  womanhood  and  to  the  nation 
to  assume  that  even  those  who  are  selected  for  col- 
lege because  they  display  no  early  eagerness  for 
romance  are  natural  spinsters  whose  maternal  in- 
stincts, being  already  weak,  should  be  starved,  and 
whose  femininity,  being  less  than  normal,  should  be 
still  further  suppressed.  A  youth  who  is  not  natu- 
rally manly  is  not  committed  by  wise  parents  to  a 
girls'  school  that  his  virility  may  be  still  further  re- 
duced. Rather  he  Is  thrown  among  rougher  young 
men,  placed  under  manly  tuition,  encouraged  to  play 
football  and  baseball,  laughed  at  by  the  girls  them- 
selves for  his  lady-like  ways  and  sternly  required  to 


HUMANIST  EDUCATION  167 

put  on  manliness.  Why  should  a  young  woman  who 
analogously  is  not  fully  feminine  be  placed,  on  the 
contrary,  under  conditions  to  starve  her  slight  female 
instincts  ? 

Their  evil  outcome  will  be  corrected  only  in  pro- 
portion as  the  tone  of  the  colleges  is  modified  and  the 
trend  given  to  the  students'  minds  and  natures  is 
changed  from  a  money-making  to  a  homemaking 
career.  That  change  involves  more  than  setting 
women  students  to  study  the  technique  of  baby  care 
or  to  investigate  why  jelly  jells  and  how  household 
budgets  should  be  kept  —  admirable  as  all  that  may 
be.  It  involves  also  a  habit  of  thought  among  the 
faculty,  a  temper  of  mind  displayed  in  the  evening 
entertainments,  the  casual  utterances  and  the  in- 
direct guidance.  It  would  make  impossible  such  a 
monstrous  regulation  as  the  rule  at  Wellesley  that  no 
young  men  are  allowed  to  call  on  a  student  during 
her  one  free  day,  Sunday. 

One  professor's  home,  with  young  children, 
happy,  cheerful,  well-managed,  to  which  a  group  of 
the  young  women  have  easy,  hospitable  welcome, 
will  be  more  excellent  for  them  than  formal  hours 
in  classroom  or  laboratory.  A  sour  domestic 
menage  should  be  as  prejudicial  to  a  teacher's  career 
as  slovenly  work  and  ways:  voluntary  childlessness 
an  offence  as  grievous  as  drunkenness;  a  bevy  of 
healthy  children,  with  whom  the  girls  can  gather 
round  the  family  table,  as  high  a  recommendation 
as  a  German  doctorate.     As  at  Princeton  each  man 


1 68  FEMINISM 

has  a  tutor  to  guide  him  in  matters  intellectual,  so 
at  a  girl's  college  each  student  should  have  a  mother 
on  the  campus  to  guide  her  in  matters  womanly.  A 
corps  of  such  mothers,  each  required  to  qualify  as  a 
successful  home  queen,  each  learned  in  matters  of 
the  heart  as  a  man  tutor  in  matters  of  the  head,  each 
bathing  her  student  charges  in  a  home  atmosphere 
and  guiding  their  reading  in  poetry,  in  romance,  in 
belles  lettres,  would  ensure  among  them  a  more 
healthy  disposition  towards  life,  a  more  natural  bias 
towards  marriage  and  homemaking. 

The  success  of  a  woman's  college  should  in  part 
be  measured  by  the  proportion  of  its  graduates  who 
marry  happily.  A  high  proportion  of  homes  is  more 
to  be  desired  than  a  high  proportion  of  post-graduate 
theses.  In  college  year  books  should  be  recorded 
in  place  of  honour  the  children  born  to  women  grad- 
uates —  more  conspicuously  than  the  salaried  places 
they  have  won  or  the  academic  distinctions  gained. 
And  re-unions  for  mother-graduates,  a  maternity  day 
to  celebrate  their  noble  success  as  creators,  and  even 
the  conferring;  of  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Maternity,  would  give  fitter  inspiration  to  the  girl 
students  than  receptions  to  spectacled  spinsters  or 
degrees  conferred  on  childless  literatae. 

Under  such  conditions  college  life  for  women  may 
be  extended  without  threatening  the  continuance  of 
the  best  strains  in  the  race,  the  diffusion  of  pros- 
perity and  the  resultant  higher  education  of  all  girls 
may  be  welcomed  without  fear  that  the  fatal  out- 


HUMANIST  EDUCATION  169 

come  will  be  the  accelerated  disappearance  of  homes 
and  children. 

These  safe  conditions  will  be  attained  in  propor- 
tion as 

1.  Parents  send  their  daughters  to  institutions, 
conducted  by  matronly  women  to  prepare,  avowedly, 
for  home  life  and  motherhood,  frankly  recognising 
that,  while  no  training  is  too  good  for  that  noble 
and  exacting  career,  yet  no  training  for  women  is 
defensible  which  tends  to  incapacitate  for  that  career, 
and 

2.  State  and  private  benefactors  insist  that 
women's  colleges  shall  be  humanised  by  the  substitu- 
tion of  mature  matrons  for  spinsters  among  the  fac- 
ulty, by  the  reform  of  the  curriculum,  especially  by 
the  teaching  of  domestic  science  in  the  broadest  sense 
of  the  term,  and  by  the  humanising  of  the  general 
regulations. 

Discrimination  in  the  distribution  of  funds  should 
be  made  in  favour  of  the  more  soundly  organised  in- 
stitutions. 


CHAPTER  XV 

WOMAN*S   DEEPEST  WRONGS  AND  THE   HUMANIST 
REMEDY 

In  this  book  it  has  been  argued  that,  for  the  per- 
petuation of  the  nation  and  the  elevation  of  the 
species,  it  is  essential  that  woman's  chief  service  to 
society  shall  be  rendered  in  the  home  through  moth- 
erhood, and  that  her  own  highest  development  and 
happiness  will  only  thus  be  secured.  Most  men  and 
women  accept  this  view.  But  society,  while  render- 
ing lip  homage  to  woman  as  mother,  maintains  con- 
ditions, carelessly,  cruelly,  disastrously,  which  leave 
millions  of  women  to  perform  their  highest  functions 
under  the  heaviest  handicaps.  A  nation  which 
should  send  an  army  to  the  front  untrained,  un- 
armed, with  Red  Cross  service  ridiculously  ineffi- 
cient, and  with  officers  too  cowardly  to  lead  their 
troops,  would  deserve  the  disasters  which  inevitably 
would  befall.  Yet  these  are  the  hideous  conditions 
under  which  the  mothers  of  the  nation  are  set  to 
defend  the  nation  against  extermination. 

Women  suffer  many  wrongs,  real,  bitter,  deep- 
seated;  wrongs  which  Humanism  deplores;  wrongs, 
some  of  which  Feminism  cannot  see,  some  of  which 
it  aggravates.  Feminism  sees  in  woman's  subjection 
to  maternity  a  wrong,  especially  as  maternity  handi- 

170 


WOMAN'S  DEEPEST  WRONGS       171 

caps  woman  for  money-earning  work.  Through 
total  or  partial  evasion  of  maternity  and  the  pursuit 
of  wages,  Feminism  seeks  for  woman  a  new  free* 
dom.  But  maternity  cannot  be  evaded  by  most 
women  and,  consequently,  Feminism  actually  adds  to 
the  burdens  of  motherhood,  the  burdens  of  wage- 
earning.  In  the  name  of  liberty  it  doubles  the 
bondage.  Humanism  welcomes  maternity;  but 
would  rriake  the  conditions  for  maternity  as  painless, 
as  care-free,  as  happy,  as  is  humanly  possible.  And 
for  the  cares  and  obligation  of  motherhood  It  would 
exempt  woman  from  the  burden  of  wage-earning. 
Humanism  recognises  also  that  every  able-bodied 
woman  with  unspoiled  instincts  has  a  right  to  mar- 
riage and  to  healthy,  safeguarded  motherhood. 
This  right  Is  a  natural  right  as  much  as  the  right 
to  breathe  and  to  walk.  In  the  words  of  Dr.,  G. 
Stanley  Hall:  "  The  more  we  know  of  the  contents 
of  the  young  woman's  mind,  the  more  clearly  we  see 
that  everything  conscious  and  unconscious  In  It 
points  to  maternity  as  the  true  goal  of  the  way  of 
life.  Even  if  she  does  not  realise  it,  her  whole  na- 
ture demands  first  of  all  children  to  love,  who  de- 
pend on  her  for  care,  and,  perhaps  a  little  less,  a 
man  whom  she  heartily  respects  and  trusts,  to 
strengthen  and  perhaps  protect  her  in  discharging 
this  function.  This  alone  can  complete  her  being, 
and  without  It  her  sphere,  however  she  shape  It, 
is  but  a  hemisphere.  Nothing  can  ever  quite  take 
its    place;    without    it    they    are    never    completely 


172  FEMINISM 

happy,  and  every  other  satisfaction  is  a  little  vicar- 
ious." 1 

Yet  society  leaves  marriage  and  motherhood 
mainly  to  chance.  Nothing  is  organised,  nothing 
foreseen,  nothing  scientifically  provided.  Nature  is 
left  to  control  the  mating  of  human  beings,  almost 
unaided  by  human  reason,  as  she  controls  the  mat- 
ing of  monkeys. 

Consider  in  order  the  stages  of  marriage,  child 
bearing  and  child  rearing.  Nominally  civilised 
peoples  approve  monogamy;  nominally  they  expect 
each  woman  to  take  a  husband ;  nominally  they  abhor 
prostitution.  Yet  England  has  recklessly  drained 
the  home  country  of  its  young  manhood  for  the  sake 
of  empire  until,  even  before  the  Great  War,  a  mil- 
lion and  a  half  of  adult  women  were  left  without 
any  possibility,  under  monogamy,  of  marriage. 
And  nations  destroy  the  flower  of  their  manhood  in 
hideous  wars  without  recognition  of  the  wrong  they 
are  perpetrating  on  the  women  just  reaching  ma- 
turity. We  hear  the  laments  of  the  widows  and 
orphans  desolated  by  the  carnage  of  devilish  war- 
fare ;  equally  heartbreaking  to  the  most  sensitive  ears 
are  the  sobs  of  the  maidens,  stifled  in  private  after 
peace  is  declared,  because,  the  youth  of  the  land  be- 
ing buried  In  the  trenches,  no  lover  can  ever  seek 
their  hand. 

Less  dramatic  Is  the  wrong  put  upon  woman  in 
America  by  the  common  attitude  towards  her  right 

1"  Adolescence,"  p.  6io. 


WOMAN'S  DEEPEST  WRONGS      173 

to  many.  Industries  which  summon  women  from 
afar  to  crowd  a  city  with  females  are  officially  en- 
couraged, with  sublime  disregard  of  the  penalty  of 
spinsterhood  imposed  on  many  of  the  women  as  a 
result  of  the  unnatural  dearth  of  men.  In  the 
Western  States  men  are  encouraged  to  penetrate  the 
frontiers  of  production,  leaving  their  women  and 
children  far  in  the  rear,  to  suffer  the  same  unholy 
deprivation  of  home  life  during  long  times  of  peace 
as  soldiers  endure  through  short  times  of  war.  So 
long  as  the  production  of  material  wealth  is  stimu- 
lated nobody  stops  to  protest  against  the  destruction 
of  real  wealth,  of  human  well  being.  In  whole 
States  men  outnumber  women  more  than  two  to  one, 
and  nobody  complains,  though  prostitution  becomes 
as  inevitable  as  bread  riots  in  a  starving  city. 
Bonuses  are  offered  to  induce  industries  to  establish 
themselves,  and  flaming  advertisements  beguile  male 
settlers,  without  a  thought  being  given  to  the  conse- 
quences of  making  a  she-town  in  the  East  or  a  he- 
state  in  the  West. 

Under  the  influence  of  Feminism  the  mother  in 
well-to-do  circles  is  being  laughed  and  shamed  out  of 
performing  her  instinctive  and  essential  business  of 
helping  her  daughters  to  find  a  husband.  The 
match-making  mamma  is  the  butt  of  ridicule  and  ig- 
norant jest.  This  is  as  sensible  as  it  would  be  for 
a  country  in  war  time  to  make  the  recruiting  ser- 
geant a  target  for  satire.  If  the  development  of  a 
better  type  of  mankind  be  more  admirable  than  the 


174  FEMINISM 

development  of  fatter  pigs  or  faster  horses,  then  the 
anxiety  of  the  human  mother  to  settle  her  daughter 
in  life  with  a  suitable  mate  is  more  admirable  than 
the  cleverest  selection  by  the  stock  breeder.  Fem- 
inists rail  at  the  education  which  gives  the  little  girls 
dolls  to  play  with  and  fosters  the  young  woman's 
natural  instinct,  with  ribbons  and  frills  and  fur- 
belows, to  make  herself  attractive.  As  well  deride 
the  vaunting  prowess  of  the  bull  moose,  the  proud 
preening  of  his  tail  by  the  peacock,  or  the  eager 
display  of  a  man's  skill  and  strength  for  the  prize 
conferred  by  the  queen  of  beauty. 

Colleges  try  to  take  their  girl  students'  minds  off 
lovemaking  and  courtship.  Their  spinster  presi- 
dents would  scorn  to  organise  spring  reunions  of 
graduates,  where  youth  and  maiden  might  meet  in 
feast  and  jollity,  for  days  together,  in  greenwood 
shades  and  college  cloisters,  encouraged  in  a  modern, 
innocent  festival  of  Venus  to  follow  nature's  prompt- 
ings and  seek  a  mate. 

Among  the  unfavoured  classes  nature  with  less  re- 
straint has  her  way.  Popular  newspapers  and  maga- 
zines are  full  of  advice  for  the  lovelorn,  and  they 
never  weary  of  letters  and  articles  on  love,  courtship 
and  marriage.  So  long  as  a  man  or  a  woman  is 
only  half  educated  and  mildly  prosperous,  society 
offers  no  discouragement  to  their  marriage.  It  is 
as  if  there  were  a  conspiracy  to  promote  the  multi- 
plication of  the  least  fit.  Pulpits  in  fashionable 
quarters  are  as  silent  about  the  injunction  to  be  fruit- 


WOMAN'S  DEEPEST  WRONGS      175 

ful  and  multiply  as  they  are  laudatory  of  the  virtue 
of  worldly  prosperity.  While  a  few  denounce  the 
search  for  a  husband  with  a  title  and  promote  the 
demand  for  a  husband  with  healthy  mind  and  body, 
none  would  condemn  the  total  renunciation  of  a  hus- 
band. 

But  the  grievance  of  well-to-do  women  as  to  so- 
ciety's tacit  discountenancing  of  marriage  fades  into 
nothingness  compared  with  the  bitter  grievance  of 
the  working  woman  in  society's  indifference  to  her 
wrongs  as  mother.  Most  frightful,  cruel,  aban- 
doned, is  the  common  carelessness  over  the  terrible 
wastage  of  infant  life,  a  wastage  continuous,  un- 
checked, appalling,  as  inhuman  as  the  wastage  of 
adult  life  on  the  stricken  battlefield.  Women  en- 
dure the  pains  and  exhaustions  of  pregnancy;  they 
pass  through  the  fiery  torments  of  bringing  a  child 
into  the  world;  they  offer  to  the  nation  the  supreme 
gift  of  a  fresh  young  life ;  and  the  nation  with  callous 
unconcern  makes  light  of  their  suffering,  despises 
their  offering,  and  permits  the  life  to  be  snuffed  out 
more  lightheartedly  than  it  permits  a  horse  barn  to 
be  burned.  Against  the  destruction  of  a  dwelling 
by  fire  it  organises  brigades  of  fire  fighters  armed 
with  every  appliance,  no  matter  how  expensive,  to 
maintain  eternal  vigilance  against  the  slightest  out- 
break. Against  the  loss  of  the  fruits  of  man's  ma- 
terial labours  it  insures  and  organises  and  struggles 
unweariedly;  against  the  loss  of  the  fruits  of  woman's 
vital  labours  it  makes  no   insurance,   it  organises 


176  FEMINISM 

the  feeblest  resistance,  it  neither  watches  nor 
guards. 

It  permits  pregnant  women  to  be  driven  by  pov- 
erty to  toil  in  factory  and  workshop,  although  doc- 
tors assure  It  that  the  most  likely  consequence  will 
be  premature  or  still  birth  or  else  a  life  so  enfeebled 
that  It  will  never  reach  maturity.  While  the 
wounded  soldier  is  tended  by  skilled  physicians  in 
well-equipped  hospitals,  the  wounded  mother  at  the 
moment  of  her  greatest  need  Is  tended  in  the  big 
cities  four  times  out  of  ten  by  unskilled  midwives  in 
cramped  and  unclean  quarters.  The  mothers  are 
often  left  in  helplessness  and  suffering,  handicapped 
by  every  condition  of  anxiety,  penury  and  squalor, 
to  protect  the  feeble,  flickering  flame  of  life  without 
the  aid  of  any  modern  medical  appliances,  with  less 
helpful  care  than  was  enjoyed  by  the  Indian  squaw 
in  her  tepee. 

The  results  are  staggering.  In  Chicago,  typical 
of  modern  cities,  a  special  Inquiry  among  the  poorer 
classes  showed  that  out  of  each  thousand  pregnancies 
the  frightful  proportion  of  388  of  the  incipient  lives 
never  reach  one  year  of  age  among  the  Slavs;  among 
the  Germans,  360  are  lost;  among  the  Irish,  345; 
among  the  Italians,  317;  and  among  the  Jews,  284.^ 
Such  figures  demonstrate  that  the  community's 
professed  reverence  for  motherhood  Is  Pecksniffian 
hypocrisy.     Wherever  one  life  out  of  three  which 

2  See  paper  by  Dr.  Alice  Hamilton  at  Conference  on  the  Pre- 
vention of  Infant  Mortality,  New  Haven,  1909. 


WOMAN'S  DEEPEST  WRONGS      177 

the  mother  has  borne  In  pain  and  sorrow  is  per- 
mitted In  sheer  Ignorance  and  callousness  to  be  lost, 
society  Is  convicted  of  Irreverence  for  maternity. 
Such  a  death  rate  Is  as  potent  a  proof  of  national 
stupidity  and  Inhumanity  as  the  decimation  of  mili- 
tary ranks  by  disease  In  unclean  concentration  camps. 

Happily  the  destruction  of  Infant  life  In  the  coun- 
try at  large  Is  less  than  these  frightful  losses  amongst 
the  poorer  classes  In  big  cities.  But  everywhere  the 
loss  Is  disgraceful.  In  general,  of  every  thousand 
conceptions  about  160  never  attain  one  year  of  age.^ 
With  adequate  care,  even  without  the  highest  ad- 
vantages which  wealth  can  procure,  the  death  tribute 
has  been  reduced  in  special  cases  as  low  as  36. 
Among  the  rich  it  has  reached  as  low  as  20  and  un- 
der. 

While  throughout  the  civilised  world  the  general 
death  rate  In  the  last  generation  has  been  heavily 
reduced  by  Improvements  In  medicine,  sanitation  and 
hygiene,  the  infant  death  rate  has  declined  but 
slightly.  Woman's  greatest  wrong  has  not  reached 
the  conscience  of  the  nations.  Probably  as  a  wrong 
to  woman  It  would  have  gone  unheeded  still  longer 
but  for  the  alarm  In  military  countries  over  the  de- 
clining birth  rate.  So  long  as  women,  helpless  in 
the  hands  of  Fate,  bore  in  silent  suffering  a  super- 
fluity of  babies,  the  Inhuman  forces  of  plague,  pesti- 

3  See  "Statistical  Study  of  Infant  Mortality,"  by  E.  B.  Phelps. 
Quarterly  publications  of  American  Statistical  Association,  Sep- 
tember, 1908. 


178  FEMINISM 

lence  and  famine  were  left  to  winnow  out  the 
physically  unfit,  and  a  good  supply  of  food  for  pow- 
der satisfied  the  rulers.  But  the  rapid  dissemina- 
tion of  the  knowledge  of  the  means  for  limiting 
families  is  changing  the  aspect  of  affairs.  It  is  a 
cruel  paradox  that  life  is  valued  only  when  life  is 
limited.  In  America  the  fecundity  of  the  immi- 
grants in  the  first  generation  maintains  an  increase 
of  population,  but,  unless  the  wanton  destruction 
of  infant  life  be  checked,  America  also  within  a  gen- 
eration, as  education  spreads  and  standards  of  life 
are  raised,  must  face  in  every  section  of  society  the 
same  problem  of  a  declining  population  which  al- 
ready it  faces  among  its  most  favoured  classes. 
^  What  can  be  done? 
Lyj-  The  humanist  programme  for  women  starts  with 
\  the  education  of  the  girl  in  high  school  in  sex  mat- 
ters, to  warn  her  of  the  shoals  and  rocks  she  must 
avoid  when  she  leaves  the  sheltered  harbour  of  home 
to  start  her  voyage  on  the  sea  of  life.  It  includes 
a  course  in  the  care  of  infants,  with  the  encourage- 
ment of  the  mother  to  use  her  daughters  in  helping 
her  to  wash  and  tend  and  feed  her  younger  brothers 
and  sisters.  Humanism,  while  demanding,  in  op- 
position to  Feminism,  that  wives  and  mothers  shall 
not  be  driven  by  poverty  or  encouraged  in  caprice  to 
work  outside  the  home,  would  make  communal 
changes  vast  and  varied  to  insure  that  every  mother 
in  the  home  shall  be  free  from  anxiety,  and  able  in 
health  and  joy  to  discharge  her  supreme  duty. 


WOMAN^S  DEEPEST  WRONGS      179 

Even  to  unmarried  mothers,  while  lamenting  their 
sinful  and  painful  condition,  it  would  offer  sym- 
pathetic help  in  recognition  of  the  value  of  the  life 
they  were,  without  legal  sanction,  creating.  It 
would  provide  a  refuge  for  the  last  months  of  preg- 
nancy, with  suitable  occupation,  under  medical  super- 
vision, and  the  offer  of  secrecy  that  the  shame  of 
exposure  might  not  be  made  the  price  for  humane 
care.  A  maternity  hospital  for  the  time  of  confine- 
ment, followed  by  a  refuge  for  convalescence  until 
the  baby  is  safe,  and  until  nursing  at  the  mother's 
breast  has  awakened  in  her  maternal  love  and  social 
consciousness,  all  hallowed  by  the  personal  influence 
of  women  of  high  character,  would  add  means  of 
redemption  for  the  mother  to  the  salvation  of  her 
child. 

A  home  must  be  found  for  the  mother  later,  best 
of  all  with  her  child,  if  she  accepts  the  task  volun- 
tarily, and  without  the  child  if  she  insists  upon 
secrecy  and  the  abandonment  of  the  infant. 

To  make  this  humane  provision,  private  charity, 
public  rehef,  and,  ultimately,  sickness  and  maternity 
insurance,  must  be  requisitioned. 

For  married  mothers  the  factors  in  a  true  hu- 
manist policy  include : 

I.  Obligatory  repose,  insured  by  law,  as  a  pro- 
tection against  overstrain  and  exhaustion  for  a  long 
period  both  before  and  after  confinement.  Medical 
opinion  demands  a  much  longer  period  of  repose 
than  does  statute  law  as  yet  In  any  country.     Dr. 


i8o  FEMINISM 

Goler,  mindful  of  the  Inertia  of  public  opinion,  rec- 
ommends compulsory  rest  for  the  mother  from  in- 
dustrial employment  for  nine  months  before  and 
twelve  months  after  confinement.  Jevons  says  that 
the  woman  should  be  kept  out  of  the  factory  until 
her  youngest  child  is  three  years  of  age.  As  fast 
as  the  appreciation  of  the  mother's  service  deepens 
the  time  of  her  exemption  from  industrial  work  must 
be  lengthened.^ 

Ignorance  Is  a  fruitful  cause  of  Involuntary  in- 
fanticide. Therefore,  visiting  nurses,  missionaries 
of  health,  ladies  Instructed  by  physicians,  drilled  for 
the  service  and  kept  under  medical  control,  should 
be  organised  in  every  township,  as  they  are  in  some 
districts  In  New  York  City,  to  give  free  aid  and 
advice  both  before  and  after  confinement.  Phy- 
sicians must  give  help  in  abnormal  cases,  before  con- 
finement, preferably  In  the  homes,  occasionally  at 
dispensaries,  and  during  confinement  the  most  expert 
medical  aid  must  be  available  to  every  mother. 
How  effective  as  a  life-saver  Is  prompt  medical  aid 
at  the  period  of  confinement  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  the  baby  deaths  in  the  first  week  are  fewer  in 
urban  than  In  rural  districts,  though  the  purer  air 
and  cleaner  surroundings  in  the  country  make  the 
death  rate  lower  from  that  time  forward.  After  a 
birth,  consulting  dispensaries,  an  Improvement  upon 

*  For  further  details  of  this  programme  see  "  Proceedings  of  Con- 
ferences on  Prevention  of  Infant  Mortality,"  under  the  auspices  of 
the  American  Academy  of  Medicine.    New  Haven  1909  and  1914. 


WOMAN'S  DEEPEST  WRONGS      i8i 

the  **  Consultation  de  Nourrissons "  of  France, 
where  the  physician  examines  and  weighs  the  babes, 
instructs  the  mothers  and  prescribes  diets,  must  be 
established  universally.  After  the  period  of  breast 
feeding,  which  it  is  now  known  can  be  and  should 
be  enforced  in  almost  every  case,  if  there  be  a  proper 
appreciation  of  its  importance,  the  diet  for  some  time 
will  be  chiefly  milk.  Therefore  the  provision  of 
pure  milk,  sterilised  when  necessary,  under  municipal 
and  state  inspection  and  control,  with  rigorous 
prosecution  for  any  criminal  neglect  and  abundant 
stations  in  crowded  quarters  for  cheap  distribution, 
are  all  essential  to  a  decent  national  regard  for 
motherhood. 

All  these  appliances  for  a  minimum  of  civilisation 
will  cost  money,  lots  of  money.  But  what  expendi- 
tures more  remunerative,  more  humane,  more  re- 
productive, could  be  devised?  At  first  funds  must 
be  liberally  furnished  by  private  charity  and  by  pub- 
lic relief  and  later  by  maternity  and  sickness  Insur- 
ance. But  insurance,  which  should  gradually  dis- 
place charity,  means  regular  payments  before  the 
period  of  disablement  and  the  accumulation  of  funds 
to  be  liberally  disbursed  in  the  time  of  the  woman's 
stress.  This  implies  the  financial  ability  of  the  pros- 
pective father  to  make  the  payments,  for  Humanism 
demands  the  exemption  of  wives  and  mothers  from 
service  in  competitive  industries.  This  involves  the 
raising  of  wages  of  fathers,  and  brings  Humanism 
into  alliance  with  all  those  social  reforms  that  would 


i82  FEMINISM 

make  a  more  generous  distribution  of  the  national 
wealth  amongst  the  manual  workers. 

When  a  wage  labourer  is  wronged  some  woman  is 
injured.  The  labour  question  is  also  the  woman 
question.  If  a  workman  is  maimed  or  killed  on  a 
railway,  some  woman  is  left  penniless  to  mourn.  If 
a  factory  shuts  down,  the  workmen's  wives  must 
pinch  and  starve,  their  children  cry  for  bread. 
When  the  workmen's  wages  are  raised  the  women 
live  more  easily.  When  overlong  hours  of  daily 
labour  are  reduced,  the  wives  enjoy,  in  part,  the 
respite.  Improvement  of  the  man's  lot  involves  im- 
provement of  the  woman's  lot.  So  labour  reforms 
are  included  in  a  humanist  programme  for  women, 
though  Humanism  does  not  advocate  the  active  par- 
ticipation of  wives  and  mothers  in  fighting  for  such 
reforms  with  the  ballot  any  more  than  it  includes  ad- 
mitting all  workmen's  wives  to  their  trade  unions 
to  help  in  fighting  for  reforms  by  collective  bargain- 
ing. 

It  is  vain  to  plead  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
home,  and  the  sustenance  of  wife  and  children  by 
the  husband,  unless  the  healthy,  thrifty  and  indus- 
trious husband  be  paid,  regularly,  enough  to  dis- 
charge his  obligations.  Faced  with  the  fact  that  the 
wages  of  60  per  cent,  of  the  adult  men  in  the  United 
States  are  less  than  $600  a  year.  Feminism  would 
arrange  that  the  woman  shall  shoulder  half  the  bur- 
den of  maintaining  herself  and  her  children,  while 
Humanism  would  arrange  that  the  man  shall  be  paid 


WOMAN'S  DEEPEST  WRONGS      183 

enough  to  release  the  woman  for  her  more  essential 
services. 

Even  then  the  death  of  the  husband,  with  pain- 
ful frequency,  leaves  his  widow,  with  young  children, 
and  without  resources.  With  cruel  harshness  and 
short-sightedness  society  then  usually  requires  the 
mother,  in  order  barely  to  keep  her  children  alive, 
to  leave  them  daily  without  her  care  or  guidance, 
while  she  toils  outside  at  low-paid  labour,  for  a  pal- 
try wage. 

Some  of  the  appeals  of  charitable  organisations 
illustrate  the  prevailing  blindness  to  the  supreme 
value  of  a  mother's  service  to  society.  Here  is 
one: 

"  A  widow  nearly  blind,  with  two  sick  children. 
The  mother  earns  $5  a  week  in  a  brush  factory. 
The  Society  desires  money  to  pay  the  rent,  and  looks 
to  the  mother  to  go  out  to  work  and  to  provide  for 
all  the  other  needs  of  the  family."  ^ 

What  insufferable  pretence  Is  our  profession  of 
reverence  for  motherhood  when  we  compel  a  half- 
blind  mother  to  grope  her  way  to  her  labour  in  a 
brush  factory  and  allow  her  children  to  go  ill-fed, 
neglected,  robbed  of  their  most  precious  right  and 
best  defence,  a  mother's  care,  even  when  their  sad 
case  has  come  under  the  notice  of  a  society  supposed 

s  These  examples  are  taken  from  an  address  on  "  Mothers'  Pen- 
sions," by  Robert  W.  Hebberd,  Secretary  of  the  State  Board  of 
Charities  of  New  York  at  the  National  Conference  on  the  Educa- 
tion of  Backward,  Truant,  Delinquent  and  Dependent  Children, 
held  at  BufFalo,  N.  Y.,  August  28,  1913. 


1 84  FEMINISM 

to  be  equipped  specially  to  help  the  deserving  indi- 
gent. 

Another  case :  "  A  mother  with  four  children  de- 
pendent on  her,  the  father  having  gone  insane.  The 
mother  earns  $6  a  week  in  a  factory;  one  child  earns 
$1.50  a  week  acting  as  nursemaid  after  school  hours 
and  *  even  little  Mamie,'  "  the  appeal  states,  "  helps 
by  earning  fifty  cents  a  week  washing  dishes.  The 
Society  desires  to  raise  approximately  $4  a  week  ad- 
ditional for  food." 

Four  children  and  an  insane  husband ! !  What  a 
tragedy !  Even  with  the  aid  of  "  little  Mamie,"  who 
is  put  to  console  herself  for  her  mother's  absence  at 
the  factory  by  *'  washing  dishes  "  after  school,  to 
earn  fifty  cents  a  week,  there  Is  not  enough  bread  on 
the  table,  and  a  kindly-disposed  society  wants  to  con- 
tribute $4  a  week.  Better  than  nothing!  But  how 
can  four  children  be  washed  and  brushed  and  guided, 
how  can  their  lodging  be  made  Into  a  home,  with 
mother  toiling  every  day  In  a  factory?  Surely  the 
richest  city  In  the  world  Is  rich  enough  to  give  the 
mother  a  chance  to  spend  on  her  four  children  the 
essential  love  and  care  and  solicitude  which  will  make 
them  full  human  beings,  ready  to  fit  Into  a  refined 
civilisation!  Who  can  reckon  how  much.  In  later 
years,  it  will  cost  them  and  the  city  to  have  deprived 
them  of  their  mother  for  the  sake  of  $6  a  week? 

Another  case:  *'  A  widow  with  three  small  chil- 
dren and  expecting  another.  The  youngest  child 
delicate  and  a  care  and  expense.     The  Society  seeks 


WOMAN'S  DEEPEST  WRONGS      185 

to  raise  $90  for  rent  and  food  for  six  months.  The 
woman  '  will  be  helped  to  find  suitable  employment 
as  soon  as  she  can  undertake  it.'  " 

Was  ever  more  Satanic  irony?  "  A  widow  with 
three  small  children  and  expecting  another  "  "  will 
be  helped  to  find  suitable  employment."  Heaven 
and  love  have  combined  to  send  four  small  children 
to  sit  in  that  mother's  lap  and  cluster  at  her  knees. 
In  the  name  of  Humanity  and  common  sense  what 
suitable  employment  for  her  is  there  on  the  earth 
or  above  the  earth  to  compare  with  the  loving  and 
tending  of  her  own  little  brood?  Yet,  in  New  York 
City,  in  the  twentieth  century,  a  society  of  well- 
meaning  philanthropists  is  so  purblind,  so  stupefied 
by  the  notion  that  working  for  wages  gives  inde- 
pendence and  working  for  her  own  children  at  home 
is  of  inferior  importance  that  it  actually  proposes, 
publicly,  in  an  appeal  to  the  charitable-minded,  as  an 
inducement  to  their  generosity,  to  "  find  suitable  em- 
ployment "  for  her  in  a  brush  factory,  or  scrubbing 
floors  in  offices,  or  doing  v/ashing,  so  soon  as,  the 
worst  exhaustions  of  bringing  a  new  life  into  the 
world  being  over,  she  recovers  some  physical 
strength  and  "  can  undertake  it."  ^ 

Humanism  would  provide  that  no  widow  with  a 
child  under  school  age  should  be  working  for  wages 

^  From  January,  191 6,  counties  in  New  York  State  are  empow- 
ered to  grant  widowed  mothers  relief  in  their  homes  to  enable  them 
to  care  for  their  children  instead  of  placing  them  in  institutions. 
A  number  of  counties  including  New  York  County,  will  grant  such 
relief  in  approved  cases. 


i86  FEMINISM 

outside  the  home.  Recognising  that  no  other  work 
the  mother  can  do  would  increase  the  real  wealth 
of  the  nation  comparably  to  her  work  with  her  own 
young  ones,  it  weuld  generously  furnish  the  widow 
with  adequate  family  maintenance,  holding  her,  in 
return,  to  a  high  standard  of  child  care  and  home 
cleanliness. 

Among  the  more  favoured  classes,  whenever  the 
income  of  the  man  is  sufficient  to  sustain  decent 
family  life.  Humanism  would  discourage  the  woman 
from  neglecting  her  service  in  the  home  for  the  sake 
of  salaried  service  outside  that  will  add  luxury  to 
comfort. 

Society  rightly  saddles  the  man  with  the  legal 
obligation  to  support  wife  and  children.  Conse- 
quently it  should  insist,  as  it  does  in  Australia,  that 
his  minimum  wage  shall  be  enough  to  keep  a  family. 

But,  correlatively,  society  can  justly  insist  that 
the  woman  shall  not  shirk  her  supreme  contribution 
and  leave  her  children,  even  on  the  plea  that  she  can 
earn  high  wages  outside.  No  mother  is  too  good  to 
be  wasted  on  her  own  children.  Women  cannot 
both  eat  their  cake  and  have  it.  Society  cannot  en- 
force the  man's  duty  to  support  his  home  and  the 
employer's  duty  to  pay  him  enough  to  support  his 
home,  and  at  the  same  time  encourage  or  allow 
mothers  to  desert  the  home.  The  national  policy, 
directed  to  the  development  of  ever  better  grades 
of  citizen,  must  not  be  undermined  by  the  wilfulness 
of  the  nonmaternal  types  of  women,  who,  for  their 


WOMAN'S  DEEPEST  WRONGS      187 

selfish  enjoyment  and  development,  would  throw 
over  the  rule  necessary  for  the  protection  of  other 
women,  and  would  subordinate  their  children  to 
their  profession. 

A  home  for  every  woman,  the  humanist  ideal,  is, 
alas!  still  far  from  realisation,  though  America  is 
nearer  to  it  than  any  European  country.  It  is  a 
mockery  to  offer  a  woman  a  hovel  or  a  two-roomed, 
dingy  tenement,  and  ask  her,  on  ten  dollars  a  week, 
to  create  a  home.  None  but  a  dauntless  heroine 
could  overcome  such  a  handicap  and  hallow  the  nar- 
row quarters  with  home's  angel  spirit.  To  leave 
the  fecund  immigrant  mothers  to  wrestle,  single- 
handed,  uninstructed  and  half  starved,  with  a  "  deso- 
lating flood  of  babies  "  is  a  cruel  travesty  of  the  wor- 
ship of  home. 

At  its  best  home  is  the  dearest  spot  on  earth. 
But  sickness,  penury,  hunger,  squalor,  will  wreck  the 
strongest  home  and  rot  the  foundations  of  society. 
Woman  Is  the  guardian  of  home,  the  mother  the 
brooding  spirit  who  hovers  over  the  cradle  of  the 
most  precious  virtues.  But  not  until  the  thousand 
blasting  influences  in  our  civilisation  which  menace 
the  home  have  been  destroyed,  and  not  until  every 
woman  is  enabled  to  create  a  home,  and  every  child 
born  may  be  welcomed  without  endangering  the 
economic  security  of  the  home,  can  Humanism  be 
content;  for  its  motto  is  — 

**  HOMES   FOR  WOMEN." 


BOOK  II 

A  WOMAN'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

By 

PRESTONIA  MANN  MARTIN 
(Mrs.  John  Martin) 

Author  of  "  Is  Mankind  Advancing?  " 


CHAPTER  I 

FEMINISM   AND   THE    FAMILY 

When  the  cave  woman  sat  nursing  her  infant  in 
a  cave,  and  the  cave  man  went  forth  to  strangle  wild 
beasts  with  his  hands  at  risk  of  his  life,  the  first 
stirrings  of  gratitude  in  her  savage  breast,  prompt- 
ing her  to  make  the  cave  warm  against  his  return 
and  cook  the  food  according  to  his  liking,  mark  the 
beginning  of  the  home. 

Upon  the  reciprocal  need  of  these  three  beings  — 
the  woman's  need  of  food  and  protection,  the  man's 
need  of  rest,  refreshment  and  comfort,  the  child's 
need  of  nourishment  and  care  —  the  family  was 
formed.  If  these  three  had  not  thus  naturally 
needed  each  other  they  would  not  have  united  to 
form  the  family  organism. 

Among  animals  families  are  formed  only  when 
they  are  necessary.  Even  the  maternal  instinct  does 
not  develop  except  where  it  is  needed.  The  mother 
fish  has  none ;  she  deposits  her  eggs  and  swims  away 
without  further  concern.  The  mother  bird  cares 
for  hef  young  only  as  long  as  they  need  her,  when 
she  promptly  pushes  them  out  of  the  nest.  Among 
horses,  dogs  and  others,  mothers,  lavishly  fond  to- 
day, are  not  on  speaking  terms  with  their  offspring 
to-morrow.     When  the  need  is  gone  parental  ten- 

191 


192  FEMINISM 

derness  and  sympathy  also  vanish.  Even  the 
mother  drives  her  young  away  and  knows  them  no 
more.  The  conjugal  pair  measure  their  faithful- 
ness to  each  other,  likewise,  by  their  mutual  need 
and  by  the  necessities  of  their  progeny.  Where 
their  young  have  a  prolonged  period  of  infancy,  so 
helpless  that  the  assistance  of  both  parents  is  re- 
quired, the  parents  stick  together  until  the  purpose 
is  fulfilled. 

The  family  came  into  being  because  of  the  pro- 
longed period  of  helplessness  of  the  human  in- 
fant. 

The  chick  picks  its  way  out  of  its  shell  and  starts 
at  once  on  its  travels;  the  colt,  the  calf,  stand  in  a 
short  time  on  their  own  wabbly  legs;  puppies  and 
kittens,  as  soon  as  their  eyes  are  open,  begin  to  lead 
an  active  existence.  By  contrast  with  the  young  of 
animals  the  human  infant  exhibits  an  extraordinary 
degree  of  prolonged  helplessness.  By  reason  of  its 
need  its  mother  found  herself  bound  closely  to  its 
side  and  because  she  must,  for  a  long  time,  lead  its 
soft,  sheltered  life  with  it  she  too  became  tender, 
soft  and  dependent.  Unlike  the  mother  cat,  which 
goes  off  hunting  a  few  hours  after  her  accouchement, 
the  human  mother  must  look  to  her  child's  father 
for  food.  This  has  made  her  the  subject  of  con- 
temptuous criticism  on  the  part  of  feminist  writers, 
who  scornfully  point  out  that  woman  is  the  only 
animal  who  fails  to  provide  for  herself  and  her 
young. 


FEMINISM  AND  THE  FAMILY     193 

Woman's  economic  dependence  does  not,  how- 
ever, put  her  upon  a  plane  lower  than  the  cat  and 
the  dog,  since  It  springs  solely  from  the  helplessness 
of  her  offspring,  for  which  she  is  not  to  blame  and 
over  which  she  has  no  control.  It  would,  no  doubt, 
be  more  agreeable  to  her  if  she  could  rise  from  her 
bed  and  go  off  hunting  In  the  fresh  morning  air,  like 
that  model  feminist  —  the  mother  cat.  But  like 
every  mother  in  the  animal  kingdom,  from  top  to 
bottom,  she  Is  bound  to  minister  to  her  young  as 
long  as  the  young  need  her. 

The  human  mother  loves  deeply  in  response  to 
the  deep  needs  of  her  offspring.  Remove  those 
needs  in  the  child  or  take  the  child  away  so  that 
she  no  longer  beholds  and  responds  to  Its  needs  — 
and  her  affection  declines. 

In  the  finny  world  it  is  of  no  consequence  that  the 
female  has  no  affection  for  her  young,  because  she 
will  continue  to  produce  young  anyway.  Whether 
she-  cares  for  them  and  enjoys  them  or  not  makes  no 
difference,  next  year's  brood  will  be  just  as  large. 
In  the  human  species,  however,  the  case  is  different. 
Unless  women  love  children,  some  day  there  will  be 
no  more  children  born,  and  the  love  of  women  for 
children  is  kept  alive  only  by  loving  contact,  only 
when  they  keep  close  to  each  other,  touch,  look  In 
each  other's  eyes,  kiss  and  embrace  again  and  again 
with  thrills  of  happiness  which  nourish  and  enrich 
the  emotional  life  of  each.  It  is  a  necessary  con- 
dition for  the  survival  of  our  race  that  the  love  of 


194  FEMINISM 

children  shall  be  kept  alive  in  woman's  breast.  This 
was  not  true  in  the  past,  when  woman  was  forced 
to  take  a  husband  in  order  to  have  some  one  to  pro- 
tect and  support  her  and,  having  taken  a  husband, 
was  obliged  to  bear  children  whether  she  wished 
to  do  so  or  not.  Motherhood  is  by  way  of  becoming 
free;  child  bearing  a  voluntary  sacrificial  service. 
And  this  is  as  it  should  be,  provided  always  that,  in 
the  process  of  setting  woman  ''  free,"  we  do  not 
end  by  destroying  in  her  the  desire  for  motherhood, 
through  depriving  her  of  those  compensating  joys 
which,  alone,  can  purchase  her  invaluable  services. 

Not  long  ago  there  was  in  New  York  City  offered 
for  adoption,  privately,  a  brown-eyed  baby  girl 
eighteen  months  old,  a  perfectly  healthy,  well-born, 
rosy,  dimpled,  merry,  delicious  little  person.  At  the 
same  time  there  was  a  rich  woman,  childless  and 
lonely,  who  had  experienced  a  great  longing  to  feel 
an  awakening  in  herself  of  the  maternal  raptures 
which  she  had  heard  described.  Her  requirements 
were,  however,  exacting;  she  demanded  nothing  less 
than  a  perfect  baby.  But  since  perfect  babies  are 
seldom  produced  in  our  noneugenic  era,  she  had  had 
to  wait  in  vain  for  many  years.  By  good  luck  she 
heard  of  the  prize  baby  and  she  hastened  to  secure 
It  for  her  own.  Joyfully  she  purchased  a  complete 
baby  outfit,  delightedly  she  set  apart  one  whole  floor 
of  her  mansion  for  baby's  use.  Then,  having  en- 
gaged a  trained  nurse  to  take  entire  charge  of  the 
little  one,  she  sat  down  to  watch  the  coveted  maternal 


FEMINISM  AND  THE  FAMILY      195 

emotions  rise  in  her  bosom.  Needless  to  say  they 
did  not  rise,  and  after  an  interval  of  anxious  wait- 
ing she  returned  the  little  woman  to  her  first  pro- 
tectors. 

It  was  not  long,  however,  before  another  child- 
less woman,  hearing  of  the  case,  appHed  for  the 
baby.  Although  this  woman's  preparations  were 
otherwise  less  elaborate,  she,  too,  engaged  a  nurse, 
with  the  result  that  after  a  week  or  so  of  trial  she 
too  came  to  feel  that  having  a  baby  about  upset 
things  too  much  and  provided  no  pleasures  which 
at  all  compensated  for  the  care  and  trouble  involved. 
Before  giving  up,  however,  this  woman,  suspecting 
what  was  lacking,  told  her  husband  that,  in  order 
to  test  the  matter,  she  would  get  the  nurse  out  of 
the  way  and  take  all  the  care  of  the  baby  for  one 
whole  day,  one  whole,  long  day.  It  happened  to 
be  a  warm  day,  sunny,  soft  and  balmy.  Foster 
mother  and  baby  spent  it  on  a  broad  open  piazza 
overlooking  the  sea.  When  night  fell  and  the 
mother  laid  the  little  dimpled  darling,  rosy  and 
fresh  from  her  bath,  in  her  soft  nest  in  the  open 
air,  the  miracle  had  happened.  "  Anybody  who  at- 
tempts to  separate  me  from  that  baby,"  said  she  to 
her  husband,  ''  will  have  to  do  so  over  my  dead 
body." 

"  And  only  this  morning  you  were  about  to  return 
her  —  give  her  up  I  "  exclaimed  husband  in  amaze- 
ment. 

"  I  didn't  know  her  then,"   replied  his  wife  in 


196  FEMINISM 

ecstasy.  "  I  had  never  tended  her,  never  held  her 
and  washed  her  and  kissed  her  dimples,  and  seen  her 
clap  her  paddles,  or  played  with  her  or  heard  her 
laugh,  or  wiped  away  her  tears.  She  wasn't  mine; 
now  she  is." 

The  woman  who  is  poor  and  overburdened  with 
domestic  cares  sometimes  thinks,  "  Oh,  if  I  were  rich 
I  should  like  a  lot  of  children.  They're  no  trouble 
when  you  can  hire  plenty  of  servants  to  take  care  of 
them.  Then  you  can  have  all  of  the  pleasure  with 
none  of  the  work  or  worry."  Little  she  realises  that 
because  the  rich  shirk  the  work  and  worry  they  also 
are  denied  the  pleasure.  It  is  not  merely  avoidance 
of  pain  and  danger  which  prompts  wealthy  wives  to 
forego  motherhood;  it  is  because  their  children  mean 
so  little  to  them  when  they  do  come. 

Feminism,  by  engaging  the  mother  in  daily  oc- 
cupation for  wages  outside  the  home,  would  make 
universal  that  separation  between  mother  and  child 
which,  unhappily,  is  common  among  the  frivolous 
rich. 

Feminism  sees  in  the  disruption  of  the  family  only 
the  liberation  of  woman,  and  a  rise  In  her  status 
from  being  "  a  mere  female  "  to  the  state  of  be- 
coming "  a  human  being."  One  feminist  writer 
exultlngly  describes  the  change  as  it  affects  women's 
occupations.  According  to  her  view,  any  work 
which  is  done  outside  of  the  home  for  pay  instead 
of  inside  of  the  home  for  love,  is  ennobling. 

For  example,  sewing  on  buttons  for  your  chil- 


FEMINISM  AND  THE  FAMILY      197 

dren  Is  the  old-time  slavery;  but  running  a  button 
machine  in  a  factory  is  "  the  new  freedom  for 
women  " ! 

Writing  letters  to  your  son  Is  woman's  drudgery; 
but  writing  letters  for  an  employer  in  an  office  Is 
emancipation.  Wrapping  up  parcels  for  your 
mother  Is  drudgery;  but  wrapping  up  parcels  In  a 
coop-  In  a  department  store  Is  the  evolution  of  In- 
dustry! Making  change  with  your  grocer  In  your 
own  kitchen  Is  woman's  old-time  drudgery ;  but  mak- 
ing change  all  day  in  a  cage  in  a  restaurant  Is  the 
new  independence  for  woman! 

Scrubbing  your  own  doorstep  and  being  paid  for 
It  in  gratitude  by  your  own  husband  is  domestic 
drudgery;  but  scrubbing  an  office  or  a  barroom  floor 
and  being  paid  for  it  in  cash  by  somebody  else's  hus- 
band is  "  the  new  freedom  for  women  " ! 

The  feminist  millennium  contemplates  the  com- 
plete individualising  of  society,  even  at  the  expense 
of  the  family. 

"  The  home  Is  the  enemy  of  woman,"  exclaims 
Mr.  W.  L.  George.  "  Home  Is  the  girl's  prison 
and  the  woman's  workho.use,"  writes  Mr.  George 
Bernard  Shaw. 

"Woman's  fear  (sphere)  Is  the  home,"  says  a 
facetious  feminist. 

*'  So  far  as  many  women  are  concerned,  the  home 
can  be  done  without,"  says  Cicely  Hamilton.^ 

The  most  popular  of  American  feminists,  Miss 

1 "  Marriage  as  a  Trade,"  p.  245, 


198  FEMINISM 

Jane  Addams,  writing  in  the  Independent,  exclaims 
fervently:  "  The  unenfranchised  woman  of  to-day 
stands  outside  of  the  real  life  of  the  world.  Never 
before  has  so  large  an  area  of  human  life  found 
civic  expression." 

Think  what  this  means!  The  woman  who  may 
not  vote,  says  this  noted  leader  of  women,  is  outside 
of  "the  real  life  of  the  world."  That  is  to- say: 
political  life  is  real  life;  business  is  real  life;  public 
office  is  real  life.  Almost  anything  is  real  life  that 
goes  on  outside  of  the  home.  Never  before,  we  are 
to  infer,  has  so  small  an  area  of  human  life  found 
domestic  expression;  never  has  the  home  meant  so 
little.  The  real  life  of  the  world  is  man's  world; 
woman's  life  is  not  real  life;  home  life  is  not  real 
life.     Homemaking  women  are  not  really  living. 

If  this  view  be  correct,  then  it  is,  of  course,  cruel, 
as  Miss  Addams  implies,  to  continue  to  confine 
women  within  a  moribund  institution,  to  tie  woman 
to  a  corpse,  to  shut  her  in  a  house  of  death,  where 
there  is  nothing  left  save  the  wraiths  of  departed 
Industries,  lost  interests,  decayed  hopes,  vanished  af- 
fections. 

If  such  feminist  teachings  be  true,  then  women  will 
seek  more  and  more  to  escape  from  the  home  into 
"  the  real  life  of  the  world."  If  they  be  true,  then 
the  family  is  doomed  and,  in  due  course  of  time,  will 
pass  into  the  number  of  things  outworn  and  for- 
gotten. 


FEMINISM  AND  THE  FAMILY     199 

The  unity  of  the  family  is  threefold:  it  has 
economic  unity  when  the  father  is  the  bread-winner, 
it  has  political  unity  when  the  father  represents  it 
at  the  polls,  it  has  sex  unity  when  he  is  its  only  male 
parent. 

The  family  is  being  attacked  on  all  these  three 
sides.  Woman's  entrance  into  independent  indus- 
try is  disrupting  its  economic  unity;  woman  suffrage 
attacks  its  political  unity,  denying  that  the  family's 
political  interests  are  one,  and  demanding  that  each 
member  of  the  family  shall  vote  separately  and  in- 
dividually. Finally  extreme  Feminism  demands 
woman's  liberation  from  "  sex  domination,"  and  es- 
tablish her  right  to  choose  the  father  (or,  it  may  be, 
the  fathers)  of  her  children. 

The  integrating  factor  of  the  family  is  the  hus- 
band-father in  his  threefold  capacity  of  bread-win- 
ner, political  representative  and  only  authorised 
male  parent.  Feminism  undermines  his  position  on 
all  three  sides.  It  is  a  gradual  process  of  putting 
father  out  of  business.  His  last  state  will  be  for- 
lorn enough;  relieved  from  all  responsibilities,  he 
will  wander  through  life  wifeless,  childless,  object- 
less, with  nothing  to  do  but  stake  out  his  own  grub, 
pay  his  taxes,  and  lay  in  a  supply  of  cigars  and 
pocket  money.  At  last  his  position  will  become  like 
that  of  the  drone  in  the  bee-hive  when  the  industries 
of  the  hive  shall  have  passed  mainly  into  the  hands 
of    industrious,    self-supporting,    spinster    workers. 


200  FEMINISM 

In  his  final  stage,  preserved  for  one  purpose  only, 
he  will  lead  a  subordinate  and  somewhat  sur- 
reptitious existence,  sneaking  in  and  out  of  the  back 
door  when  sent  for,  like  a  guilty  plumber. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE   PASSING   OF  THE   FAMILY 

I  ONE  day  found  myself  seated  at  luncheon  next  to 
a  noted  economist  and  a  woman  social  worker.  To 
the  conversation,  which  chanced  to  be  upon  the  mini- 
mum wage,  my  contribution  was  the  remark  that  I 
felt  little  interest  in  a  minimum  wage  for  women, 
since  I  hoped  for  the  day  when  women  would  be  paid 
no  wages  at  all.     My  companions  gasped. 

*'  Would  you  have  women  dependent  for  support 
upon  men?  " 

"  Assuredly,"  I  replied. 

"Why?" 

*'  Because  it  is  better  for  men,  and  better  for  the 
child  and  therefore  it  must  be  better,  in  the  end,  for 
women." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  *  in  the  end  '  ?  " 

"  I  mean  for  the  race.  You  realise,  perhaps  that 
woman's  entrance  into  industry  carries  with  it  the 
abandonment  of  the  home  ?  " 

"  Of  course,"  assented  my  companions,  promptly 
and  cheerfully. 

*'  Do  you  both  accept  that  outcome?  " 

"  Perfectly.  The  home  is  an  obstacle  to  prog- 
ress. We  shall  get  on  faster  when  it  no  longer  im- 
pedes our  way."     This  from  the  woman. 

201 


101  FEMINISM 

"  Whether  we  accept  it  or  not  —  the  home  is  van- 
ishing."    Thus  the  economist. 

"  And  with  the  home  do  you  understand  the  pass- 
ing of  the  family?  and  do  you  welcome  that  too ?  " 

"  Certainly,"  said  the  woman.  "  The  family  can- 
not continue  to  exist  under  a  free  order  of  society. 
The  family  is  based  upon  woman's  subjection. 
When  once  she  is  free  the  family  will  dissolve." 

These  two  persons,  a  man  and  a  woman,  addressed 
by  chance  at  a  gathering  of  intelligent,  public-spir- 
ited New  Yorkers,  both  highly  educated,  both  de- 
voted students  and  teachers  of  "  social  uplift,"  look 
forward,  calmly  and  unquestioningly,  to  the  ap- 
proach of  a  complete  abandonment  of  the  family. 
They  contemplate  without  a  misgiving  a  social 
change  of  vast  importance  and  accept  it  as  an  essen- 
tial step  in  social  evolution. 

"  The  break-up  of  the  family  is  necessary,"  said 
a  socialist  to  me,  "  in  order  that  capitalism  may  do 
its  perfect  work  and  production  be  increased  to  the 
point  of  providing  enough  for  all.  Then  with  an 
equitable  distribution  there  will  be  leisure  for  all." 

"  When  that  time  has  arrived,  will  the  family  be 
restored?  "  I  asked. 

"  Never  again,"  was  his  reply;  "  it  was  a  defen- 
sive alliance,  necessary  to  a  certain  stage  of  economic 
development.  But  once  abandoned,  and  the  indi- 
vidual set  free,  it  will  never  be  resumed.  It  will 
have  disappeared  forever."     I  mention  this  incident 


THE  PASSING  OF  THE  FAMILY     203 

to  show  how  serenely  the  passing  of  the  family  is 
assented  to  also  in  other  quarters. 

A  prominent  feminist,  referring  to  the  custom  of 
women  to  give  up  their  professions  when  they 
marry,  writes:  "The  tendency  of  woman  still  is 
to  revert  to  the  instinctive  function.  But  in  days 
to  come  when  we  have  developed  the  individual, 

when  THE  HOME   HAS  BEEN  SWEPT  AWAY  AND  THE 

FAMILY  DESTROYED,  I  do  not  believe  that  this  fac- 
tor will  operate  so  powerfully."  ^ 

As  indicating  how  bold  the  voice  of  Feminism 
is  becoming,  let  us  contrast  an  early  with  a  modern 
feminist.  . 

Sixty  years  ago  Horace  Greeley  wrote,  "  It  is  said 
that  it  is  woman's  business  to  obey  the  husband, 
keep  his  home  tidy,  and  nourish  and  train  his  chil- 
dren. But  what  if  a  woman  rejoins:  *  Very  true; 
but  suppose  I  choose  not  to  have  a  husband  or  am 
not  chosen  for  a  wife.  I  must  somehow  earn  my 
living;  why  should  I  not  be  at  liberty  to  earn  it  In 
any  honest  and  useful  calling?  '  The  legislator  is 
at  this  struck  dumb !  " 

In  Greeley's  time  home  life  was  still  considered 
desirable  for  women,  and  a  feminist  of  that  day 
asked  only  that  woman  be  allowed  to  do  what  she 
had  to  do,  namely,  work  for  a  living  outside  of  the 
home  when  it  was  necessary.  He  did  not  describe 
this  action  as  marking  an  advance,  a  liberation,  but 
iW.  L.  George.     In  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  Jan.,  1916. 


204  FEMINISM 

only  as  the  outcome  of  a  stern  necessity.  So  fast 
have  things  been  moving  that  the  ultra-feminist  of 
to-day  no  longer  believes  domestic  life  desirable. 
Many  would  urge  woman  to  leave  home,  whether 
she  has  to  earn  her  living  or  not.  Mr.  W.  L. 
George  2  writes:  *' Woman's  work  in  the  home  Is 
sterile  and  humiliating.  It  steals  her  individuality, 
originality,  spontaneity,  opportunity  for  self-ex- 
pression and  self-development.  It  makes  her  stupid 
and  limited,  either  harsh  or  sentimental;  deprives 
her  of  beauty  and  grace,  divorces  her  from  social 
function  and  unfits  her  to  be  man's  equal  companion." 

By  way  of  contrast  compare  this  picture  of  the 
woman  at  home  with  the  statement  of  another  fem- 
inist writer  of  sixty  years  ago : 

"  It  is  often  supposed  that  literary  women  must 
of  necessity  neglect  their  domestic  concerns  of  life. 
But  some  of  the  most  devoted  mothers  the  world 
has  ever  known,  and  whose  homes  were  the  abode 
of  every  domestic  virtue,  have  been  women  whose 
minds  were  highly  cultured  and  were  active  in  philan- 
thropic efforts  for  the  welfare  of  the  race." 

This  writer  Is  not  urging  that  women  should  earn 
their  living  outside  of  the  home  (though  he  would 
probably  also  have  advocated  that),  he  Is  merely 
mildly  protesting  that  a  woman  may  be  cultivated 
and  Intelligent  and  yet  not  neglect  her  home.  It 
Is  Indeed  a  far  cry  from  this  quaint  gentleman  to 
Mr.  George,  who  believes  that  it  Is  only  by  neglect- 

2  "  Woman  and  To-morrow,"  Appleton  &  Co. 


THE  PASSING  OF  THE  FAMILY     205 

ing  her  home  that  woman  can  prove  herself  cultured 
and  Intelligent! 

What  would  the  old-fashioned  gentleman  above 
quoted  say,  could  he  read  to-day  Mr.  George's  un- 
equivocal declaration  that  the  woman  who  stays  in 
the  home  is  a  fool,  a  stupid,  limited,  sterile,  ugly, 
awkward,  boorish  creature  — "  unfit  to  be  man's 
equal  companion"?  Mr.  George,  you  see.  Is  in 
the  van  of  the  procession,  he  is  within  sight  of  the 
goal.  And  what  Is  the  goal?  The  goal  clearly  Is 
a  future  society  composed  of  Independent  Individ- 
uals, a  society  freed  from  that  stuffy,  deadening, 
sterilising,  petrifying  Institution  known  to  us  as  the 
family. 

By  way  of  goading  women  to  seek  independence, 
some  feminist  writers  picture  man  as  a  gruesome 
tyrant.  In  her  book,  *'  A  Man-Made  World,"  Mrs. 
Gllman  draws  up  a  long  Indictment. 

Man  has  arranged  things  in  this  world  solely  to 
please  himself,  she  says.  Woman,  not  man.  Is  the 
''race  type"  (whatever  that  may  mean),  and  the 
writer  is  indignant  that  man  — "  a  mere  variant  " 
—  should  be  so  presuming !  For  example,  he 
makes  a  practice  of  selecting  a  mate  with  regard  to 
characteristics  that  please  him — (as  though  that 
were  a  proper  criterion!)  — and  It  is  clearly  for 
his  own  vile  purposes  that  he  wishes  young  girls  to 
remain  innocent.  Woman  is  confined  to  the  home, 
it  Is  said,  in  order  that  she  may  not  develop  "  hu- 
manly."     (It  is  only  outside  activities  which  are 


2o6  FEMINISM 

really  "  human.")  Within  the  family,  is  despotism; 
outside  is  democracy.  (It  is  understood,  of  course, 
that  in  the  "  outside  "  there  are  no  bosses,  mag- 
nates, monopolists  or  any  form  of  tyranny;  while  in 
the  home  there  is  never  of  course  fraternity  and  a 
rule  of  equality!)  In  the  family  woman  has  no  in- 
fluence, but  lives  in  subjection  to  man  rule.  (All 
Americans  will  recognise  this  picture  at  once.) 

Women  confined  in  the  home  are  ugly,  in  this 
philosopher's  view.  It  is  only  when  they  are  free 
(to  work  in  factories,  mills,  offices)  that  their  beauty 
blooms!  The  air  in  those  places  is  so  much  purer 
than  the  fetid  atmosphere  of  the  home  !  Women  are 
blamed  for  being  fond  of  dress  but  it  is  man  who 
forces  woman  to  decorate  herself.  If  free,  she 
would  not  stoop  to  such  frivolity! 

Prostitution  is  also  solely  man's  work;  woman 
never  willingly  Is  unchaste !  When  women  areJbadL 
ins_mairijdDlng ;  If  they  are  good  the  credit  Is  their 
own.  Men  have  caused  the  degradation  of  litera- 
ture by  requiring  that  90  per  cent,  of  all  fiction  shall 
be  love  stories.  Women  have  higher  tastes.  The 
andro-centric .  culture  perverts  even  childhood,  for 
men  have  foisted  dolls  upon  little  girls  and  mon- 
strously encouraged  them  to  "  play  mother "  I 
None   but"  sinisteFlriotrves  can  be  behind   such   a 


4\   ^  course ! 


We  are  told  further  that  it  is  a  basic  feminine  im- 
pulse to  construct,  but  it  Is  a  basic  masculine  im- 
pulse to  destroy.      (This  lack  of  constructive  power 


THE  PASSING  OF  THE  FAMILY     207 

in  man  explains  why  they  have  never  built  cathe- 
drals   and   bridges    and    canals    and    railways    and 
cities    and    philosophies    and    arts    and    sciences!) 
Man  degrades  all  the  arts :  the  theatre,  for  instance, 
has  fallen  to  his  level!      (Matinees  show  how  much 
more  elevated  is  the  taste  of  women!)      Man^as^ 
established  the   double   standard  of  morality,   and  ' 
it    is    he    who  "  condemns    woman    for    sexual    sin/v"^" 
(Women  never  condemn  other  women   for   delin-^ 
quencies  of  that  sort ! ) 

Man,  it  is  said,  has  manufactured  the  religions 
and  foisted  them  upon  woman  (Mrs.  Eddy  never- 
theless and  notwithstanding),  and  the  Devil  is  his 
invention!  Women  would  never  have  thought  of 
such  a  thing  (nor  would  they  have  taken  any  hand 
in  witch-baiting  or  any  such  matter!).  It  is  the 
male  mind,  also,  we  learn,  which  is  responsible  for 
having  garbled  Christianity  into  a  selfish  scheme  for 
saving  man's  own  soul! 

War  is  entirely  man's  doing,  it  need  hardly  be  ex- 
plained. He  fights  to  please  himself  (never  to  de- 
fend his  hearth  and  home,  his  women  and  children). 
If  woman  had  her  way  there  would  be  no  strife. 
She  would  not  even  consent  to  his  protecting  her 
against  the  attacks  of  enemies,  barbarians,  burglars, 
villains.  Man  has  turned  politics  into  warfare; 
women  would  make  it  into  a  love  feast!  Even 
football  will  be  ladylike  when  women  take  charge 
of  it! 

On  the  whole,  it  appears  men  are  either  useless 


2o8  FEMINISM 

or  malevolent.  Some  day,  when  the  uselessness  of 
men  is  fully  realised,  then  the  woman's  uprising  will 
come,  the  drones  will  be  slain,  their  corpses  swept 
from  the  hive  —  woman  will  come  to  her  own  I 
The  feminist  millennium  will  have  arrived! 

While  it  is  the  tendency  of  the  teaching  of  one 
branch  of  the  feministic  doctrine  to  alienate  the  af- 
fections of  women  from  man,  another  note  is  di- 
rected at  separating  mother  and  child.  Mr.  Zcub- 
lin,  for  example,  declares  that  "  women  see  too 
much  of  their  children;  it  is  bad  for  their  nerves." 
Therefore  they  should,  he  thinks,  leave  their  chil- 
dren with  a  nurse  —  it  not  being  bad  for  the  nurse's 
nerves  —  and  themselves  go  out  and  be  a  mother  to 
the  municipality! 

The  love  between  mother  and  child,  as  that  of 
men  and  women  for  each  other,  can  be  kept  alive 
only  by  propinquity.  It  is  useless  to  deny  this  fact 
or  to  rebel  against  it;  thus  are  we  made.  If  we  look 
at  the  Sistine  Madonna  holding  her  baby  in  her 
arms  her  attitude  suggests  infinite  closeness.  It  is 
not  probable  that  the  Virgin  could  afford  a  gov- 
erness or  even  a  nurse,  perhaps  not  even  a  teacher. 
She  and  her  darling  lived  and  learned  and  grew  to- 
gether. 

To-day  society  disapproves  such  intimacy,  partly 
because  many  undoubtedly  do  find  it  *'  wearing," 
and  partly,  perhaps,  because  intimacy  between  moth- 
ers and  their  children  is  not  commercially  profitable 
to  the  armies  of  women  teachers  who  have  to  make 


THE  PASSING  OF  THE  FAMILY     209 

a  living  by  Interfering  with  it.  Thousands  of 
nurses  and  teachers  who  are  turned  loose  annually 
upon  society  must  have  some  one  to  nurse  and  to 
teach.  Thus  they  wedge  themselves  between 
mother  and  child  (thereby  often  setting  the  mother 
free  to  go  out  in  her  turn  and  wedge  herself  some- 
where else),  and  thus  the  industrialisation  of  woman 
forms  a  two-edged  sword,  cutting  both  ways  against 
the  family. 

It  is  part  of  the  feminist  philosophy  that  even 
the  young  child  is  better  off  in  the  hands  of  an 
expert  outside  of  the  family  than  under  its  mother's 
care  within  the  family.  If  this  be  true  then  the  final 
abandonment  of  the  family  is  only  a  question  of 
time.  For  it  was  chiefly  for  the  benefit  of  the  child 
that  the  family  was  organised. 

Among  other  forces  inimical  to  the  family  we 
must  also  reckon  efforts  Intended  to  minimise  the 
differences  between  the  sexes,  and  make  men  and 
women  as  nearly  as  possible  alike;  for  the  family 
thrives  upon  unlikeness  in  the  sexes  and  the  conse- 
quent need  they  feel  for  each  other,  not  merely  sex- 
ual but  social,  practical  and  spiritual.  It  is  their 
differences  and  unlikenesses  which  make  them  at- 
tractive to  each  other;  it  Is  their  differences  which 
make  them  useful  to  each  other. 

The  extraordinary  increase  in  the  demand  for  di- 
vorce is  an  indication  of  conjugal  instability.  The 
latest  census  returns  report  In  the  United  States  a 
slight  increase  in  the  marriage  rate,  but,  unhappily. 


2IO  FEMINISM 

it  is  accompanied  by  a  continually  falling  birth 
rate.  It  would  appear,  therefore,  that  while  more 
marriages  are  being  formed  an  increasing  propor- 
tion of  them  are  feministic  marriages,  that  is,  mar- 
riages in  which  both  members  intend  to  pursue  their 
vocations  outside  of  the  home  and  between  whom 
there  is  an  understanding  that  children  shall  not  be 
allowed  to  interfere  with  this  plan.  These  unions, 
although  legaHsed,  are  scarcely  more  than  haisons, 
hardly  deserving  the  name  of  marriage;  nor  is  a 
partnership  of  two  persons  entered  into  for  mere 
pleasure  to  themselves  and  devoid  of  any  relation- 
ship or  contemplated  service  to  the  race  entitled  to 
be  called  a  family. 

So  far  has  the  family  influence  already  declined 
that  conscientious  educators  are  becoming  alarmed 
at  the  absence  in  so  many  young  persons  of  the 
special  qualities  which  nothing  but  home  influence 
can  develop  in  them.  "  Our  young  people  lack  char- 
acter, responsibility,  depth.  It  is  due,  I  think,  to 
the  shallowness  of  their  home  hfe.  We  cannot  com- 
plain that  their  home  influences  are  bad,  nor  yet  are 
they  good.  There  are  simply  no  influences  at  all  of 
any  kind.  The  parents  are  absent  from  home  most 
of  the  time  and  home-made  children  are  becoming 
rare." 

I  have  read  recently  an  account  written  by  a 
highly  successful  professional  woman  of  her  mode 
of  life.  Her  domestic  affairs  are  disposed  of,  she 
informs  us,   in  fifteen  minutes  over  the  telephone 


THE  PASSING  OF  THE  FAMILY     211 

and  the  remainder  of  her  day  Is  spent  at  her  office, 
from  which  she  returns  In  the  evening  In  time  to 
be  given  a  rub-down  and  put  to  bed.  She  concludes 
her  account  by  saying:  *'  I  am  often  asked  whether 
my  business  makes  me  any  less  to  my  family.  Of 
course  not.  I  am  the  life  and  Inspiration  of  my 
family  — •  all  the  more  so  from  my  wider  experience 
and  broader  outlook." 

Now  given  a  woman  who  can  be  all  that  to  her 
family  when  she  Is  asleep,  the  question  naturally 
arises  —  would  It  be  safe  at  all  to  have  her  around 
the  house  when  she  was  conscious  ? 

In  cities,  the  multiplication  of  hotels,  where  chil- 
dren are  not  admitted,  points  to  the  passing  of  the 
family.  The  occasional  child  seen  In  a  hotel  Is  an 
object  of  curiosity  and  Is  regarded  as  a  nuisance  or 
else  IS  petted  to  death.  The  general  feeling  that 
the  child  Is  out  of  place  In  It  measures  the  distance 
between  the  hotel  and  the  home  —  a  household  from 
which  children  and  pets  are  excluded,  the  Inmates 
of  which  do  no  work,  forms  the  mummified  atmos- 
phere In  which  human  joys  and  sorrows,  birth, 
sickness,  death,  are  out  of  place.  Hotel  dwellers 
seem  hung  between  heaven  and  earth.  In  a  state  of 
suspended  animation;  scarcely  dead  —  nor  yet,  in 
any  human  way,  alive. 

Sickness  In  a  hotel  Is  regarded  by  the  other  board- 
ers as  a  personal  affront.  They  dread  sounds  from 
the  sickroom,  and  ask  to  have  their  rooms  changed. 
The  landlord  is  In  terror  lest  they  leave.     In  case 


212  FEMINISM 

of  death  the  body  Is  hustled  away  as  fast  as  possi- 
ble. •  Concealment  is  practised  concerning  the  room, 
lest  the  next  guest  learn  of  its  gruesome  associations. 
Hotel  life  is  dehumanised.  Yet  hotel  life  is  In 
various  forms  an  increasing  habit. 

In  labouring  families  both  parents  often  go  out 
to  work,  the  grand  parents  are  in  an  institution,  the 
children  are  at  school  or  kindergarten,  the  baby  is  in 
a  day  nursery,  and  even  the  old-maid  aunt  (the 
home's  last  prop)  has  now  gone  out  In  search  of 
economic  Independence.^ 

In  the  old-time  family  parents  endeavoured  to 
keep  close  to  their  children  and  form  them  accord- 
ing to  a  cherished  Ideal,  because  they  expected  to 
live  with  their  children  and  die  with  them  and  go 
to  heaven  with  them.  Thus  they  handed  down 
their  religious  and  moral  convictions,  not  only  be- 
cause they  thoroughly  believed  In  them  themselves, 
but  also  because  they  hoped,  by  giving  to  their  de- 
scendants the  same  spiritual  passports,  that  the 
whole  family  would  finally  reach  the  same  celestial 
goal.  Present  customs  look  for  a  scattering  of  the 
family  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  In  this  mortal  sphere, 
and  a  very  dubious  reunion  hereafter. 

A  striking  illustration  of  the  subtle  Influence  of 

3  Mr.  Frederic  Harrison  tells  us  that  there  are  places  in  Spain 
where  among  the  working  classes  family  life  has  already  almost 
disappeared.  "  The  women  are  nearly  as  rough,  coarse  and  un- 
handy as  the  men.  They  know  quite  as  little  of  household  comfort, 
of  health,  of  children  —  of  the  grace  and  sweetness  of  a  woman's 
lif«." 


THE  PASSING  OF  THE  FAMILY     213 

family  tradition  upon  morals  Is  found  in  the  records 
of  illegitimaqr,  a  social  ill  which  varies  from 
country  to  country  and  can  be  accounted  for  neither 
by  Irreliglon,  nor  by  different  religions,  by  city  life 
nor  country  life,  nor  by  race.  "  For  the  real  cause 
one  must  look  to  a  certain  heredity  influence," 
writes  Dr.  Leffingwell,  English  Registrar  of  Births, 
in  his  report  of  1904.  The  chastity  of  Irish  girls, 
for  example,  Is  due.  It  appears,  not  to  any  cause 
that  can  be  discovered  except  to  the  whispered  warn- 
ings handed  down  from  mother  to  daughter  in  bed- 
time confidences  generation  after  generation,  moni- 
tions which  take  a  deeper  hold  upon  the  maiden's 
character  than  any  extraneous  influence. 

The  decline  of  the  family  is  proceeding  fastest 
at  the  two  extremes  of  society.  It  Is  favoured  by 
city  life  and  factory  labour  (both  of  which  are  on 
the  rapid  increase),  and  it  is  checked  chiefly  by  the 
farming  class,  because  It  is  still  in  farm  houses  that 
the  family  best  retains  Its  old-time  character.  Here 
its  earlier  conditions  prevail,  the  father  working  out- 
side as  breadwinner  —  yet  never  far  removed  from 
his  flock  —  the  mother  within  as  homemaker,  the 
children  as  companions  to  their  parents. 

When  the  family  has  gone,  society,  consisting 
practically  of  bachelors,  spinsters  and  orphans,  will 
present  some  curious  features.  It  may  be  more 
prosperous  than  now;  for  all  energies  will  be  de- 
voted to  wealth  production.  Unfortunates  will  be 
herded  In  institutions ;  the  successful  world  will  con- 


214  FEMINISM 

sist  of  Independent,  self-sustaining,  self-sufficing  in- 
dividuals, the  exertions  of  each  centring  upon  him- 
self. In  many  of  its  aspects  it  might  seem  to  be  a 
successful  society,  except  for  one  small  matter  —  the 
child !  "  The  weak  point  in  Feminism  is  the  care 
of  the  baby,"  reluctantly  admits  one  feminist.  Let 
us  picture  the  life  of  a  typical  child  in  a  family-less 
society. 

He  makes  his  appearance  In  a  maternity  hospi- 
tal and  is  given  his  mother's  name.  No  questions 
are  asked  concerning  his  father;  since  that  matter 
is  understood  to  be  solely  his  mother's  affair.  The 
mother  receives  few  visits  from  her  mother,  sisters 
or  women  friends ;  since  they  are  all  very  busy  earn- 
ing their  living  at  their  various  professions.  After 
office  hours  a  gentleman  comes  to  see  her,  who  is 
evidently  on  very  friendly  terms  with  her  and  the 
Infant,  and  who  may  be  supposed  to  be  its  father 
by  any  one  curious  enough  to  be  concerned  with 
matters  of  so  exclusively  personal  a  nature.  The 
mother  Is  eager  to  get  well  and  return  to  her  work. 
The  gentleman  begs  her  to  take  time  to  recover  her 
strength.  She,  however,  deplores  the  loss  of  sal- 
ary entailed  in  this  interruption.  He  offers  his  as- 
sistance but  it  is  indignantly  refused.  To  accept  it 
savours  of  economic  dependence,  of  woman's  old- 
time  subjection.  As  a  free  woman  she  claims  the 
right  to  support  herself  and  her  child.  If  the  bur- 
den be  beyond  her  strength  she  will  accept  help  from 
the  State,  but  not  from  him.     The  new  status  of 


THE  PASSING  OF  THE  FAMILY     215 

woman  has  lifted  her  far  above  "  sex  slavery." 
She  has  given  herself  freely  and  will  accept  no  pay. 
Pay  for  the  child  is  pay  for  her.  If  she  took  it 
now,  she  might  be  tempted  to  do  so  in  future;  then 
she  might  seek  to  please  him  for  the  sake  of  the 
pay  and  then  the  old  enslavement  of  woman  would 
recommence.     No,  it  must  not  be. 

The  man  bows  to  her  decision  and  goes  his  way. 
It  is  evident  that  their  relations  can  be  only  those 
of  equals  and  comrades.  When  she  gets  well,  there- 
fore, they  will  resume  their  companionship. 

Meantime,  baby  is  removed  to  a  nursery,  for  nurs- 
ing is  inconvenient  to  a  professional  woman.  In 
the  nursery  it  is  given  scientific  care,  unless  the 
nurses  happen  to  forget,  or  have  their  attention 
otherwise  diverted,  and  there  it  leads  a  sterilised 
existence  in  the  company  of  other  orphaned  infants. 

Upon  its  mother's  recovery  it  is  taken  to  her 
apartment,  where  it  is  either  brought  up  by  a  suc- 
cession of  hired  women  fetched  from  an  employ- 
ment agency,  each  of  whom  damages  the  child  in 
one  way  or  another  unknown  to  its  mother,  or  it  is 
deposited  in  the  common  nursery  of  a  feminist  flat, 
with  sHghtly  better  results  as  to  care  and  worse  re- 
sults as  to  wear  and  tear  on  its  nerves. 

Meantime,  mother  returns  to  her  work  and  re- 
sumes her  friendship  with  the  father  of  her  child. 
But  when  his  business  interests  call  him  to  another 
city  her  business  requires  her  to  remain  where  she 
is,  and,  since  there  is  no  bond  of  mutual  obligation 


2i6  FEMINISM 

between  them  and  no  unity  stronger  than  that  of  an 
agreeable  friendship,  they  easily  part  company. 
Their  bond  has  been  what  feminists  describe  as 
purely  spiritual,  but  this  is  a  world  of  temporal  as 
well  as  spiritual  things  and  the  bond  is  too  tenuous 
to  stand  any  great  strain. 

The  orphaned  boy,  pining  under  neglect,  divides 
his  life  between  a  huge  school  factory  and  his  moth- 
er's apartment.  There  he  sees  her  for  a  short 
while  on  the  evenings  when  she  stays  at  home  from 
meetings,  theatres,  and  other  matters  to  rest  her 
worn  nerves  or  doze  on  the  sofa.  The  boy  is  stren- 
uously educated  by  the  State  for  high  economic  effi- 
ciency, and,  as  soon  as  he  is  ready,  he  starts  upon 
his  career  in  pursuit  of  wealth,  wealth  in  which  his 
mother  is,  of  course,  to  have  no  share,  as  will  neither 
his  wife,  nor  his  daughters.  It  will  be  all  his  — 
and  the  State's.     Thus  life  goes  on. 

Now  let  us  pause  to  ask  what  the  father  got  out 
of  this  affair.  A  pleasant  friendship,  gratification 
of  sex  appetite,  no  responsibility  or  care;  on  the 
other  hand,  no  .sense  of  dignity  and  worth  as  the 
head  of  a  family,  no  moral  satisfaction  in  duties  un- 
dertaken and  well  fulfilled;  no  compensation  for  the 
struggle  of  existence  in  the  love  and  gratitude  of  a 
devoted  family. 

What  has  the  woman  got  out  of  it?  Also  an 
agreeable  friendship  lasting  a  few  years,  and  — 
freedom!     Yes,  freedom  from  *' sex  domination." 


THE  PASSING  OF  THE  FAMILY     217 

Not  freedom  from  toil  and  struggle,  but  freedom 
from  —  man  as  husband !  But  what  has  she  got  out 
of  motherhood?  The  pains  and  discomforts  of 
parturition,  brief  joys  of  possession  —  little  com- 
panionship, little  attachment,  little  gratitude,  little 
appreciation,  httle  intimacy,  little  love,  little  com- 
fort. Has  she  been  repaid?  Hardly.  Would 
she  repeat  the  experience  if  she  had  her  life  to  live 
over  again?  Possibly,  but  not  probably.  Will  she 
advise  other  women  that  motherhood  is  worth 
while?  Probably  not.  Will  she  be  likely  under 
such  social  conditions  to  bear  more  than  one  or  two 
children?  No.  Can  the  race  survive  on  so  impov- 
erished a  scale  of  reproduction?     It  cannot. 

"  But  there  is  no  danger  of  any  such  state  of 
affairs  as  is  here  depicted  ever  coming  to  pass,"  I 
hear  the  reader  exclaim.  "  Free  love  in  various 
forms  has  always  been  advocated  by  certain  hare- 
brained individuals,  but  the  great  mass  of  mankind 
are  untouched  by  its  vagaries,  and  the  instinct  for 
home  and  parenthood  and  the  family  may  be  trusted 
to  stave  off  any  such  outcome." 

It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  theories  of  a  different 
order  of  society  as  regards  marriage  have  been  dis- 
cussed in  every  age  from  Plato  down,  but  in  our  day 
these  changes  are  not  merely  under  discussion,  they 
are  in  actual  operation.  Moreover,  it  is  not  merely 
the  idle  speculations  of  dreamers  which  are  here  to 
be  considered  but  the  enormous  power  of  great  eco- 


2i8  FEMINISM 

nomic  forces  with  which  Feminism  allies  itself  which 
are  shattering  and  regrouping  society  according  to 
their  own  laws  and  tendencies. 

The  family-making  impulse  with  which  man  has 
become  endowed  by  the  pressure  of  experiences 
through  the  ages  would  be  strong  enough  to  with- 
stand any  amount  of  argumentation;  indeed  it  has  in 
the  past  rejected  very  alluring  promises  of  social 
happiness  and  has  clung  persistently  to  the  family. 
The  impulse  would  remain  undiminished  if  the  cir- 
cumstances which  evoked  it  continued.  But  circum- 
stances are  changing;  many  influences  which  hitherto 
have  tended  to  strengthen  and  confirm  the  family 
im.pulse  in  each  successive  generation  of  men  and 
women  are  now  operating  to  weaken  and  disrupt 
it. 

But  if  changing  circumstances  demand  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  family,  why  resist  them?  it  may  be  asked. 
Perhaps  children  can  be  better  raised  by  the  State 
than  by  their  mothers.     Why  oppose  It? 

Because  even  although  collective  child  raising 
could  be  made  more  scientific,  better  standardised 
and  more  successful,  yet  under  such  an  order  the 
mother  herself  would  not  receive  adequate  compen- 
sations for  the  pains  and  dangers  of  child-birth. 
The  State  might  be  pleased  with  the  result  of  its 
experiments  and  even  the  child  might  do  well;  but 
the  mother  would  get  nothing  out  of  it.  She  would 
not  care  to  bear  children.     Why  should  she? 

The  vital  objection,  then,  to  abolishing  the  family 


THE  PASSING  OF  THE  FAMILY     219 

lies  In  the  fact  that  in  doing  so  we  shall  finally  abol- 
ish the  human  race  altogether. 

The  family  rests  upon  the  needs  of  Its  members 
for  one  another  and  the  services  they  reciprocally 
perform  to  satisfy  those  needs.  When  they  no 
longer  need  one  another,  then  there  will  be  no  rea- 
son for  the  continuance  of  the  family.  When  the 
woman  has  no  longer  any  need  for  the  man  as  bread- 
winner and  protector;  when  he  has  no  further  use 
for  her  as  hom.emaker;  when  the  child  has  no  more 
any  need  for  either  of  them  as  nurse,  guide,  teacher, 
friend,  but  finds  all  Its  needs  supplied  by  hired  per- 
sons outside,  then  the  bonds  of  affection  will  weaken 
from  disuse.  If  ever  machinery,  either  social  or  me- 
chanical, shall  be  Invented  to  perform-  the  services 
which  the  members  of  the  family  have  for  so  long 
performed  for  one  another  —  then  the  disintegra- 
tion of  the  family  is  Imminent.  Every  organisation 
perishes  v/hen  Its  parts  no  longer  serve  one  another. 
Then  dissolution  sets  in.  And  while  mating  may 
continue  Indefinitely,  since  nature  has  sex  appetite 
in  hand,  the  family  as  an  Institution,  when  it  has  out- 
lived its  usefulness,  will  cease  to  exist. 


CHAPTER  III 

SELLING  THE   RACE 

"There  is  found  among  women  an  increasing  disinclination  for 
maternity,  which  deprives  mankind  of  many  superior  mothers. 
Woman's  commercial  work  for  self-support  in  all  classes  increases 
her  sterility."—  Ellen  Key. 

I  WENT  the  Other  day  to  see  a  classmate  of  mine 
whom  I  had  not  seen  for  years.  She  is  a  librarian, 
and  I  found  her  standing  before  a  card  catalogue, 
picking  over  cards  and  writing  little  figures  in  pen- 
cil in  the  upper  right  hand  corner.  This  is  what 
she  had  been  doing  for  the  most  part  during  the  past 
fifteen  years  or  so  —  picking  over  cards,  and  writ- 
ing little  figures,  in  pencil,  in  the  upper  right  hand 
corner. 

I  realised,  of  course,  as  I  contemplated  her  rich 
and  varied  experience  that  this  was  the  "  broad  life," 
that  this  was  **  a  career,"  that  she  had  (in  the  lan- 
guage of  Feminism)  **  ceased  to  be  a  mere  female 
and  become  a  human  being."  By  way  of  conver- 
sation I  asked  how  she  felt  about  woman  suffrage. 
With  an  ineffable  smile  she  replied,  "  I  don't  talk 
much  about  suffrage;  I  live  it." 

Now,  what  did  she  mean?  Being  a  college  grad- 
uate she  must  have  meant  something.     How  can 

220 


SELLING  THE  RACE  221 

one  "  live  "  woman  suffrage?  Upon  further  inquiry 
I  saw  that  to  her,  as  to  so  many  women,  woman 
suffrage  means  much  more  than  the  vote;  it  means 
complete  independence  of  man  and  the  family.  It 
means  self-support  and  celibacy.  It  means  to  earn 
your  own  living  and  remain  single.  It  means  Femi- 
nism. 

But  I  am  asked:  *' What  are  women  in  needy 
circumstances  to  do  ?  They  must  live ;  and  is  it  not 
far  better  for  a  woman  to  retain  her  self-respect  and 
support  herself  than  to  go  husband  hunting  or  to 
marry  for  a  living?  " 

"  It  certainly  is,"  I  reply. 

"  Well,  then,  what  do  you  object  to?  " 

"  What  I  objected  to  in  this  case,  was  that  ineffa- 
ble smile!  It  was  the  smile,  not  of  one  who  has 
tried  to  make  the  best  of  a  bad  situation,  but  the 
smile  of  one  who  believes  she  has  triumphed.  It 
was  the  smile  of  a  woman  who  thinks  she  has  had 
a  lucky  escape  in  turning  her  back  on  home  and  hus- 
band and  family;  who  thinks  that  her  celibacy 
proves  her  to  have  risen  superior  to  man  and  all  his 
works." 

That  smile,  that  ineffable  smile,  as  it  appears  on 
the  faces  of  the  best  women,  is  doing  as  much  harm 
to  the  human  race  as  any  frown  that  ever  darkened 
the  human  countenance,  for  it  means  that  women, 
deprived  of  the  real  woman's  life,  can  yet  hypnoti- 
cally convince  themselves  and  one  another  that  they 
are  happy. 


%ii  FEMINISM 

My  friend's  conduct  was  honourable;  her  smile 
was  horrible. 

And  if  you  run  your  eye  over  our  vast  country  and 
observe  the  thousands  and  increasing  thousands  of 
its  best  women  smiling  in  that  way  and  for  that 
cause ;  smiling  because  they  are  single  and  independ- 
ent and  prosperous;  smiling  because  they  are  home- 
less and  childless;  smiling  because  they  are  helping 
to  ruin  the  future  of  our  country  and  our  race  — 
you  may  well  shudder  and  say,  "  The  nation  whom 
the  gods  wish  to  destroy,  they  first  make  mad." 

The  superior  woman's  likelihood  of  marrying  is 
rapidly  declining,  while  the  average  woman's  chances 
of  remaining  single  have  doubled  in  the  last  genera- 
tion. Moreover,  if  a  woman  does  marry,  the 
chances  are  one  in  ten  that  she  will  be  divorced  in 
ten  years.  In  Washington  State  the  chance  is  one 
in  six.  Her  mother's  chance  of  divorce  was  one  in 
thirty-four.  The  director  of  the  census  calls  this 
the  threefold  velocity  of  divorce.  As  time  goes  on 
it  is  more  and  more  the  incompetent  woman  who 
can't  get  her  living  any  other  way  who  marries.  If 
it  continues,  in  a  few  generations  only  occasional 
women  of  infirm  intellect  will  marry  at  all  —  and 
they  will  stay  married  only  long  enough  to  estab- 
lish a  claim  for  alimony!  The  best  women  will 
remain  single,  will  be  earning  high  salaries  as  they 
become  scarcer  and  scarcer,  and  the  ineffable  smile 
will  stretch  in  a  continuous  line  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Pacific. 


SELLING  THE  RACE  223 

We  may  note  this  difference  in  woman's  relation 
to  labour  and  that  of  man.  When  a  fine  young  man 
"  makes  good  "  it  is  a  matter  for  public  congratu- 
lation, not  only  because  it  shows  that  he  has  fulfilled 
the  expectations  held  of  him  and  justified  the  efforts 
expended  upon  him,  but  because  it  means  that  he 
will  probably  marry  sooner  and  better  (having  a 
wider  range  of  choice)  and  so  his  valuable  qualities 
will  be  transmitted  to  posterity. 

A  young  woman's  success  means  exactly  the  re- 
verse. The  more  rapid  her  advancement,  the  more 
likely  she  is  to  remain  single.  Every  rise  in  salary 
inclines  her  to  postpone  marriage,  or  as  youth's  im- 
pulses fade,  to  omit  it  altogether. 

And  so  we  have  this  interesting  paradox,  that  the 
stronger,  more  efficient,  healthy,  high  spirited  and 
altogether  admirable  a  young  woman  is,  the  less 
likely  it  is  that  she  will  hand  on  those  qualities  to  the 
future.  We  have  so  bedevilled  this  matter  that  so- 
ciety pays  high  salaries  to  superior  women,  entic- 
ing more  and  more  of  them  from  reproduction.  It 
deliberately  selects  large  numbers  of  the  best  of 
each  generation  and  sets  them  apart  for  sterility. 
You  can't  run  society  on  that  principle.  You 
couldn't  run  a  chicken  farm  on  that  principle.  Sup- 
pose you  picked  out  your  best  hens  and  paid  them 
large  salaries  to  remain  single,  or  sent  them  to  col- 
lege, or  put  them  In  feather  factories,  to  manufac- 
ture feathers  for  other  hens  to  wear! 

I  knew  a  fine  woman  who  struggled  twenty  years 


224  FEMINISM 

to  bring  herself  to  the  point  of  giving  up  her  sal- 
ary and  marrying  an  excellent  young  man.  In  the 
end  the  salary  won  and  she  gave  up  the  excellent 
young  man. 

Think  what  that  means  to  humanity!  It  had 
taken  our  race  millions  of  years  to  produce  a  woman 
of  her  grade.  But  now  her  line  is  to  be  brought  to 
an  end.  That  spark,  lighted  in  the  immemorial  past, 
handed  on  century  after  century,  from  generation  to 
generation,  with  infinite  care  and  pains,  amid  in- 
finite hardships  and  dangers,  is  now  to  be  extin- 
guished—  never  to  be  hghted  again  —  gone  for- 
ever, snuffed  out  —  by  a  salary! 

When  society  pays  a  high  salary  to  a  man,  it  makes 
a  profitable  investment.  When  it  pays  a  high  sal- 
ary to  a  woman,  it  has  to  mortgage  its  future  to 
meet  the  indebtedness.  Man's  worldly  success  is  a 
benefit  to  the  race.  The  same  success  in  woman  is 
tainted.  Nature  applauds  man  for  his  material 
achievements  and  frowns  on  woman  for  doing  the 
same  thing.  This  is  because  our  old  mother  is  not 
interested  in  any  sort  of  success  for  woman  —  save 
one! 

We  all  know  women  to-day  in  token  of  whose  con- 
tinued celibacy  the  flag  on  the  city  hall  should  fly 
at  half-mast.  The  reason  is  simple.  If  the  exam- 
ple continues  to  spread,  that  flag  will  come  down 
some  day  altogether. 

And  yet  you  may  explore  the  consciousness  of 
these  same  women  from  end  to  end,  in  every  nook 


SELLING  THE  RACE  225 

and  cranny,  and  find  no  trace  of  any  suspicion  on 
their  part  that  they  have  any  responsibility  to  their 
Maker,  to  their  country,  to  their  race  or  to  them- 
selves in  this  matter  whatever. 

And  this,  not  that  they  lack  moral  feeling,  but 
that  the  subject  has  become  so  tangled  up  that  its 
underlying  principles  are  totally  obscured. 

As  war  wreaks  injury  to  race  standards  by  de- 
stroying the  bravest  and  strongest  of  a  nation's  men, 
so  commercialism  is  depleting  the  race  by  render- 
ing large  numbers  of  the  ablest  and  most  enterpris- 
ing women  sterile.  Moreover,  this  sort  of  war  is 
continuous. 

The  commercialisation  of  women  is  carried  on 
with  apparently  no  recognition  that  the  consequences 
are  not  those  which  accompany  the  buying  and  sell- 
ing of  the  labour  of  men.  The  inexorable  law  that 
woman  is  not  able  to  detach  her  labour  power  from 
her  sex  power  and  sell  one  without  affecting  the 
other^  seems  to  be  completely  disguised  even  from 
women  themselves. 

I  knew  of  a  charming  professional  woman  who, 
owing  to  the  exigencies  of  her  career,  was  in  the 
habit  of  depositing  her  husband  in  one  State  and 
her  baby  in  another,  although  she  always  made  a 
point,  it  was  said,  of  calling  upon  one  or  the  other 
of  them  whenever  she  was  passing  through.  In  this 
way  she  found  no  difficulty,  she  declared,  in  follow- 
ing her  profession  without  neglecting  her  family  in 
the  least.     Her  successful  demonstration  of  femi- 


226  FEMINISM 

nlst  principles  was  marred  by  only  one  disadvantage, 
namely,  that  although  she  was  fond  of  children,  yet, 
while  she  was  making  so  much  money,  the  luxury  of 
a  larger  family  would  have  to  be  indefinitely  post- 
poned. 

Let  us  look  clearly  at  this  fact  without  blinking! 

The  managers  who  engage  this  charming  person, 
and  we  who  pay  for  the  privilege  of  admiring  her, 
are  buying  something  more  than  her  labour  power 
(which  is  all  that  we  buy  when  we  employ  a  man). 
We  are  buying  and  she  is  selling,  along  with  her 
talents  and  her  labour  —  the  lives  of  the  unborn  I 

Most  of  the  famous  women  opera  singers  and  ac- 
tresses buy  their  celebrity  with  the  price  of  mother- 
hood as  part  payment.  But  no  such  price  has  to 
be  paid  by  the  noted  tenors  who  warble  for  our 
amusement;  nor  is  a  similar  racial  deprivation  in- 
cluded in  the  price  of  our  ticket  to  the  performance 
of  the  famous  actor  or  acrobat. 

The  sale  of  the  race  by  the  women  of  the  work- 
ing classes  includes  both  the  denial  of  motherhood 
and  the  still  more  tragic  slaughter  of  the  innocents 
which  the  early  death  of  their  babes  provides.  It 
has  been  repeatedly  shown  that  in  mill  towns,  where 
women  are  employed,  the  rate  of  infant  mortality 
is  double  that  of  those  of  the  homekeeping  women 
on  the  outlying  farms.  It  is  evident,  in  such  cases, 
that  the  pay  envelope,  when  handed  to  a  mill  woman, 
has  bought  something  more  than  her  labour.  In 
Lancashire,  when  our  Civil  War  closed  the  cotton 


SELLING  THE  RACE  227 

mills,  the  women  employed  there  were  obliged  to 
stay  at  home  and  become  once  more  —  in  feminist 
parlance — "mere  women."  The  mothers,  having 
nothing  better  to  do,  filled  in  their  time  by  tak- 
ing care  of  their  children.  Whereupon  the  rate  of 
infant  mortality  dropped  one-half.  When  the  fac- 
tories reopened,  however,  and  the  women  went 
back  to.  work,  their  babies  immediately  resumed 
their  habit  of  dying  off.  Were  not  their  lives  sold 
along  with  their  mothers'  labour  power?  Did  not 
the  mill-owners  buy,  in  addition  to  the  mothers' 
work,  the  bodies  of  her  young? 

When  a  woman  sells  her  labour  (and  this  is  not 
the  case  with  a  man),  her  sex  power  is  often 
checked,  thwarted,  weakened,  damaged;  sometimes 
it  is  destroyed  altogether.  When  a  woman  sells  her 
work  she  sells  herself  —  that  is  the  law.  Her  la- 
bour power  and  her  sex  power  cannot  be  separated 
and  sold  apart.  It  is  perfectly  clear,  when  you  come 
to  think  of  it,  that  when  you  buy  a  man's  labour 
power,  you  buy  a  man's  labour  power  and  nothing 
more.  But  when  you  buy  a  woman's  labour  power 
you  buy  along  with  it  a  part  of  the  race.     And  the 

RACE  SHOULD  NOT  BE  FOR  SALE. 

Every  one  sees  this  truth  clearly  when  it  con- 
cerns the  prostitute.  This  unfortunate  creature  is 
despised  and  abhorred  because  she  publicly  sells  for 
money  a  private  service  which  should  be  sacred  to 
race  preservation.  But  it  is  not  seen  that  the  mil- 
lions of  women  who  are  selling  their  labour  power 


228  FEMINISM 

in  the  most  approved  manner,  acclaimed  by  fem- 
inism, are  nevertheless  being  prevented  by  a  price 
froln  the  due  exercise  of  their  normal  mother  power. 
The  degraded  prostitute  is  of  infinitely  lower 
worth  to  the  world  than  the  woman  college  presi- 
dent, the  social  worker,  the  famous  public  official. 
But  if  both  were  brought  before  Dame  Nature's 
judgment  seat  the  sterility  of  the  latter  might  call 
down  to  a  still  greater  degree  her  righteous  wrath 
for  more  was  expected  of  the  gifted  ones  and  there- 
fore their  defection  has  by  so  much  more  jeopar- 
dised our  future.  The  barrenness  of  the  harlot  is 
a  merciful  dispensation;  but  had  Nancy  Hanks  or 
Mary  Washington  been  bribed  to  sterility  by  a 
college  presidency,  or  an  actress'  celebrity,  or  the 
halo  of  a  settlement  worker,  or  the  sanctity  of  an 
abbess,  or  the  glory  of  a  municipal  commissioner  — 
thereby  depriving  us  of  our  two  greatest  men,  a 
wrong  would  have  been  done  to  our  race  which  we 
could  not  have  repaired,  nor  Nature,  perhaps,  have 
forgiven. 


CHAPTER  IV 

TWO   SORTS   OF    HEROINES 

The  early  anti-feminists  who  made  doleful  predic- 
tions concerning  the  higher  education  of  women 
have  long  since  been  silenced;  their  predictions  and 
denunciations  drowned  in  derisive  laughter.  Col- 
leges for  women  have  multiplied,  women  highly  and 
ever  more  highly  educated  no  longer  excite  com- 
ment, and  the  sex  appears  to  have  demonstrated 
that  it  can  study  the  same  subjects  and  pass  the 
same  examinations  as  men.  As  to  the  price  woman 
has  to  pay  for  so  doing,  opinions,  differ.  Many  a 
woman  comes  from  college  a  broken  wreck,  and 
many  a  one  comes  away  with  a  frozen  heart  and  a 
chilled  brain,  while  many  another  comes  as  a 
conquering  heroine,  healthy,  blooming  (though 
learned),  buoyant,  triumphant. 

Thus,  if  we  judge  singly  by  individuals,  the  effect 
of  higher  education  for  women,  like  other  incidents 
of  life,  is  sometimes  good  and  sometimes  bad.  But 
there  is  no  such  uncertainty  as  regards  its  effect 
upon  the  race.  Here  it  is  certain  that  the  advance- 
ment of  our  species  has  no  more  subtle  and  in- 
sidious enemy  than  the  higher  education  of  women 
as  it  is,  at  the  present  time,  generally  arranged. 
Statistically  it  has  been  shown  that  they  do  not  even 

229 


230  FEMINISM 

physically  reproduce  themselves,  and  hence  In  them 
the  race  tends  to  die  of!  continually  at  the  top.  The 
future  is  sacrificed  that  the  present  may  be  more  di- 
versified, agreeable  and  cultured. 

It  is  sometimes  said  that  though  the  class  of  cul- 
tured women  produce  few  offspring,  yet  these  few, 
being  of  superior  quality,  will  prove  the  leaders  of 
the  next  generation.  Alas !  Most  of  them  are  far 
from  robust;  they  in  turn  tend  to  die  out  rapidly,  so 
that,  far  from  continuing  to  be  the  leaders  of  the  fu- 
ture, they  are  more  likely  in  a  few  generations  no 
longer  to  exist! 

Moreover,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  educating 
of  a  mother  improves  in  the  least  the  mentality  of 
her  offspring.  The  most  learned  of  women  trans- 
mits (according  to  latest  biological  belief)  only  the 
ability  she  was  born  with  —  her  native,  inborn, 
mother  wit,  and  no  more.  Whether  this  be  devel- 
oped or  not  is  of  no  consequence  to  the  next  gener- 
ation. Indeed,  there  are  some  reasons  to  believe 
that  a  suppressed  talent  is  more  surely  transmitted 
than  if  it  be  fully  expressed,  for  the  very  process 
of  developing  it  in  itself  sometimes  proves  in  women 
exhausting  to  the  whole  organism,  and  the  power 
to  transmit  it  is  therefore  impaired.  If  conserved, 
it  may  be  handed  on  Intact. 

This  fact  was  strikingly  exemplified  In  the  ca- 
reer of  the  Immortal  EHzabeth  Tuttle,  prolific 
mother  of  giants,  the  most  remarkable  woman  Amer- 
ica has  produced.     Beside  the  feats  of  her  colossal 


TWO  SORTS  OF  HEROINES         23! 

motherhood  the  puny  accomplishments  of  the  women 
who  "  do  things  "  are  as  sounding  brass  and  tinkling 
cymbal. 

The  details  of  her  life  are  painfully  scant.  (The 
present  writer  confesses  to  a  keener  curiosity  re- 
garding her  career  than  that  concerning  any  other 
character,  alive  or  dead.)  We  are  given  a  snapshot 
ghmpse  of  her  as  she  walked  the  streets  of  Hart- 
ford, Connecticut,  some  150  years  ago,  a  tall,  dark- 
eyed,  commanding  woman,  her  tall,  distinguished- 
looking  husband  at  her  side,  the  two  forming  so 
handsome  a  couple  that  every  one  turned  to  look 
at  them.  This  is  the  brief  description  we  have  of 
her:  "A  woman  of  strong  will,  extreme  intellec- 
tual vigour  and  a  mental  grasp  akin  to  rapacity." 

These  qualities  mark  a  woman  who,  were  she 
living  to-day,  would,  almost  inevitably,  be  sucked 
into  a  career.  She  would  be  a  college  president, 
or  a  founder  of  settlements,  or  a  clergyman,  or  per- 
haps police  commissioner  or  commissioner  of  chari- 
ties and  corrections;  instead  of  which  she  passed  her 
time  in  sheer  enjoyment,  no  doubt,  of  her  "  intellec- 
tual vigour  and  mental  grasp  akin  to  rapacity,"  and 
for  the  rest  in  the  exercise  of  her  mighty  reproduc- 
tive instinct  —  the  latter  with  certain  culpable  ir- 
regularities, as  it  would  appear,  since  after  she  had 
been  married  for  twenty-four  years  to  the  correct 
Mr.  Edwards,  he  divorced  her  upon  such  a  charge. 
In  his  second  wife  he  chose  a  mediocre  lady,  who 
faithfully  transmitted  her  mediocrity  to   a  consid- 


232  FEMINISM 

erable  progeny;  —  but  the  five  children  who  had 
been  presented  to  him  by  the  colossal  Elizabeth 
have  covered  him  and  his  native  land  with  glory. 
It  has  been  surmised  that  the  history  of  the  United 
States  would  have  been  different  had  Elizabeth  not 
lived,  for  her  blood,  carrying  with  it  her  force 
unspent  and  her  brightness  undimmed  by  any  ex- 
hausting efforts  on  her  part  to  "  realise  herself," 
gave  to  her  country  an  army  of  great  men  and 
women.  Her  progeny  and  descendants,  including 
Jonathan  Edwards,  America's  greatest  philosopher, 
included  also  college  presidents,  doctors,  judges, 
clergymen,  statesmen,  authors,  leaders  in  every  walk 
of  hfe,  including  also'  two  presidents  of  the  United 
States,  Grover  Cleveland  and  U.  S.  Grant. 

To  the  feminist  mind  Elizabeth  Tuttle  led  the  nar- 
rowest of  lives,  the  domestic  life,  but  the  genera- 
tions who  follow  her  could  spare  more  easily  many 
women  who,  while  winning  distinction  for  them- 
selves, have  lost  it  for  the  race. 

In  similar  fashion  the  feminist  would  have  as- 
sured Nancy  Hanks,  when  she  was  sweeping  the 
earthen  floor  and  washing  the  pewter  dishes  and 
shaking  up  the  bed  of  leaves  on  which  slept  a  little 
boy,  later  to  be  favourably  known  as  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, that  she  was  wasting  her  life,  and  would  have 
urged  her  to  seek  "  freedom.''  The  Nancy  Hanks 
of  to-day  has  sought  and  found  freedom.  She  is 
buyer  in  a  department  store  at  five  thousand  dol- 
lars a  year.     She  is  the  confidential  secretary  to  a 


TWO  SORTS  OF  HEROINES        233 

Wall  Street  broker;  she  Is  the  editor  of  a  trade 
magazine,  she  is  drummer  for  a  commission  house, 
she  is  a  female  lobbyist  at  Washington,  she  is  an 
operator  In  real  estate  or  wheat,  she  is  the  wielder 
of  a  surgeon^s  knife  in  a  dissecting  room.  Some 
day,  if  all  goes  well,  she  may  be  a  policeman  I 

But  meantime  the  supply  of  Abraham  Lincolns  Is 
curiously  scant. 

Besides  its  lists  of  spinster  heroines  who  have 
won  renown  solely  by  "  doing  things  *'  on  their  own 
account  outside  of  the  family,  Feminism  has  a  sort 
of  duplex  heroine  who  combines  both  careers,  that 
of  mother  and  wage  earner.  The  stories  of  their 
deeds  of  valour  have  a  military  flavour,  combining 
daring  with  secrecy.  There  Is  the  story  of  the 
woman  government  employe  who  smuggled  her  in- 
fant into  the  Capitol  itself,  nursing  it  surreptitiously 
in  its  hidden  nook  in  the  moments  she  was  supposed 
to  be  absent  from  the  room  for  other  purposes.  A 
high  school  woman  teacher  in  a  New  York  school 
bears  and  rears  two  children  unknown  to  the  world, 
save,  as  we  may  suppose,  her  husband  and  with  the 
connivance  of  her  principal,  who  arranges  with  her 
to  conceal  her  pregnancy  behind  a  high  desk.  The 
young  mistress  of  a  fashionable  New  York  dress- 
making establishment,  carrying  on  a  profitable  busi- 
ness, has  her  baby  trundled  daily  up  and  down  be- 
fore her  shop  in  its  carriage,  at  which  Madame,  over 
the  shoulders  of  her  customers,  peers,  now  and  then, 
through  the  window  for  a  precious  glimpse  of  baby 


234  FEMINISM 

awake;  for  when  mother  returns  from  her  work  at 
night  the  baby  is  always  asleep.  ''  Leaving  baby 
in  the  morning  is  the  hardest  work  I  do  all  day," 
she  says,  ''  but  I  hope  by  working  now  to  give  baby 
more  advantages  when  she  is  grown  up."  (*'  More 
advantages  "  than  having  had  a  mother !)  Like  the 
juggler  balancing  two  plates  on  two  sticks,  this  type 
of  feminist  keep  a  baby  and  a  business  revolving 
at  the  same  time,  to  the  admiration  of  all  behold- 
ers. 

The  heroines  of  Feminism  may  be  simplex  — 
spinsters  celebrated  for  achievements  other  than  do- 
mestic; or  duplex  —  wives  famous  for  hyphenated 
prowess  as  mother-teachers,  mother-singers,  mother- 
circus  performers,  mother-this  or  mother-that.  Of 
the  latter  it  appears  that  their  renown  rests  not 
upon  special  merit  in  either  performance,  but  in  the 
acrobatic  feat  of  being  two  things  at  once,  and  calls 
forth  a  wonder  such  as  that  evoked  by  persons  who 
ride  two  horses  or  write  with  their  toes,  or  hang 
by  their  teeth  or  do  other  wholly  unnatural  and  un- 
necessary things. 

The  heroines  of  the  family,  unlike  those  of  Fem- 
inism, are  not  women  famous  for  being  something 
other  than  mothers,  or  being  something  else  plus 
being  mothers,  but  are  venerated  just  as  great 
mothers. 

The  heroines  of  anti- feminism  are  those  figures 
who  stand  back  in  the  shadowy  doorways  of  life,  in 
quiet  grandeur,  in  maternal  reticence,  unnoticed  and 


TWO  SORTS  OF  HEROINES         235 

obscure,  behind  the  great  men  of  all  time:  The 
mother  of  Socrates,  the  mother  of  Aristides,  the 
mother  of  Pericles,  the  mother  of  Homer,  the 
mother  of  Shakespeare,  the  mother  of  Isaac  New- 
ton, the  mother  of  Washington,  the  mother  of  Lin- 
coln. We  know  nothing  of  these  women  except 
their  greatness,  but^f  that  we  know  with  absolute 
certainty,  for  it  is  revealed  in  their  sons.  As  the 
Greeks  raised  an  altar  to  the  unknown  God,  so  a 
future  generation  with  its  bias  toward  eugenics  may 
build  a  temple  to  the  unknown  Mothers  of  Great 
Men,  fair  and  noble  figures,  loving  and  suffering,  in- 
visible in  their  proud  and  patient  silence,  seeking  no 
other  reward  than  that  of  their  hopes  fulfilled. 


CHAPTER  V 

NOTHING   TO   DO   IN   THE    HOME 

"  There  is  nothing  left  In  the  home  for  women  to 
do,"  Is  a  commonplace  of  Feminism. 

How  far  is  this  true?  Is  it  true  of  all  women, 
or  only  of  some  women?  Of  what  women  Is  it 
true?  Surely  millions  of  homes  still  exist,  and  vast 
amounts  of  work  have  to  be  done  In  them  —  by 
somebody !  Only  one  in  ten  contains  a  servant.  In 
the  other  nine  the  work  Is  still  done  by  the  wives 
and  mothers.  If  ever  I  need  any  reassurance  on 
this  point  I  have  but  to  run  down  across  the  lawn 
to  my  coachman's  cottage,  where  a  typical  working- 
class  mother  is  engaged  in  the  never-ending  task  of 
caring  for  husband  and  four  children.  As  far  as 
I  can  observe  there  are  no  Indications  that  she  is 
suffering  from  the  lack  of  occupation. 

It  is  true  that  the  character  of  woman's  toil  In 
the  home  has  been  somewhat  altered  by  modern 
methods  of  industry.  Her  drudgery  is  somewhat 
lessened;  but,  although  she  uses  a  carpet  sweeper 
in  place  of  a  broom,  the  room  has  still  to  be  swept. 
The  amount  of  leisure  secured  to  her  by  labour- 
saving  devices  Is  not  so  great  as  It  is  often  assumed 
to  be.  Moreover,  as  far  as  leisure  Is  actually  at- 
tained, it  is  almost  Immediately  absorbed  by  a  rise 

236 


NOTHING  TO  DO  IN  THE  HOME     237 

in  the  standards  of  living.  Time  saved  by  the  wash- 
ing machine  is  forthwith  expended  upon  a  more 
plentiful  supply  of  clean  clothes.  Running  water  in 
the  house  saves  drawing  water  from  a  well,  but  leads 
to  the  installing  of  the  sink  and  bathtub  which  have 
to  be  kept  clean. 

In  the  isolated  farmhouse  of  a  hard-working 
family  I  was  shown,  last  summer,  a  well-equipped 
bathroom,  and  was  told,  with  pretty  pride,  by  the 
house  mother  that  her  children  were  given  a  bath 
every  night.  In  her  native  home  there  had  been  no 
such  conveniences  for  bathing,  but  there  was  also 
very  little  bathing  —  which  evened  things.  Women 
welcome  labour  savers  in  the  home,  but  the  time 
gained  by  the  use  of  them  is  not,  by  any  means, 
stagnant.  It  is  rapidly  absorbed  into  new  refine- 
ments of  living.  The  house  mother  knits  stockings 
for  her  family  no  more;  but  her  mending  basket  is, 
on  the  other  hand,  always  overflowing.  She  weaves 
towels  no  longer,  but  she  uses  many  more  towels. 
She  has  not  now  to  draw  the  water  to  wash  her 
dishes;  but  she  has  many  more  dishes  to  wash.  It 
is  a  far  cry  from  eating  off  of  bare  boards,  up  to  the 
luxury  of  table  cloths  and  napkins;  while  it  is  per- 
haps a  still  greater  leap  from  clean  napkins  every 
day  to  a  fresh  one  every  meal,  said  to  be  the  final 
goal  to  which  many  a  woman,  baffled,  yet  hopeful, 
aspires. 

I  have  before  me  a  set  of  cooking  recipes  which 
go  all  over  the  country  into  the  hands  of  "  the  peo- 


238  FEMINISM 

pie."  I  note  especially  the  menu  of  what  is  said 
to  be  an  ideal  Christmas  dinner.  It  is  much  lighter 
than  the  old-fashioned  feasts  and  most  of  its  in- 
gredients will  be  bought  ready  to  use;  yet  its  very 
lightness  demands  time  and  thought  which  the  heavy 
repast  of  a  coarser  age  could  scarcely  exceed.  From 
the  trussing  and  stuffing  of  the  goose  the  day  before, 
through  the  details  of  a  complicated  salad,  a  shrimp 
cocktail,  an  ephemeral  dessert,  the  house  mother  of 
to-day  is  called  upon,  if  she  is  to  reach  the  ideal 
here  set  forth,  to  make  quite  as  many  motions  as  her 
Puritan  grandmother  expended  upon  the  similar  cele- 
bration as  it  was  prescribed  in  her  day. 

Not  long  ago  a  woman  invited  thirty  of  her 
neighbours  in  one  afternoon,  for  a  cup  of  tea.  Sim- 
ple enough ;  only  a  handful  of  people,  only  a  cup  of 
tea.  But  I  noted  the  process  in  detail.  Of  about 
twenty  articles  required  for  the  function  everything 
except  the  hot  water  and  the  mayonnaise  was 
brought  to  the  house  ready  prepared.  Yet  it  took 
the  hostess,  deft  as  she  was,  four  hours  with  one 
assistant  to  prepare  and  set  forth  "  this  cup  of  tea  "  I 
It  is  the  finishing  touch  that  takes  time.  The  bread 
must  be  cut  just  so  thin,  spread  just  so  even,  with 
butter  just  so  soft.  The  lettuce  must  be  washed 
above  suspicion,  drained,  selected,  wiped  and 
chopped.  The  mayonnaise  alone  took  half  an  hour 
in  the  making.  The  lemons  must  be  sliced,  the  su- 
gar dominoes  disposed,  every  piece  of  silver  must 
shine,   all  the  glass  must  gleam,  immaculate  linen 


NOTHING  TO  DO  IN  THE  HOME     239 

must  be  spread,  delicate  doylies,  lace  tray  cloth,  fine 
serviettes  properly  disposed.  The  tea  must  be  made 
every  few  minutes  to  be  fresh  and  fragrant  for  each 
comer.  The  petits  fours,  the  bonbons  duly  dis- 
posed; lastly  flowers  must  be  procured,  sprinkled, 
picked  over,  vased  and  picturesquely  placed.  All 
these  processes  and  details,  though  not  hard  work, 
take  deftness  and  time. 

Are  they  worth  while?  Are  any  of  the  refine- 
ments of  civilisation  worth  while?  We  must 
acknowledge  that  the  elaboration  of  the  final  details 
of  living  mark  the  development  of  society  from 
primitive  to  cultured  conditions,  and  In  the  last 
analysis  the  only  value  of  machinery  Is  to  take  over 
the  coarser  forms  of  labour  In  order  that  there  may 
be  time  gained  for  more  delicate  and  elegant  opera- 
tions. Thus  woman  finds  that  as  her  hands  are 
emptied  of  primitive  labour  they  are  filled  at  once 
with  occupations  inspired  by  the  desire  (however 
trivially  it  may  express  Itself)  for  more  grace  and 
beauty  and  health  and  elegance  in  her  personal  life. 

The  wife  of  one  of  my  farmer  neighbours,  to  save 
work  for  herself,  bought  the  outfit  for  her  expected 
baby  from  a  Chicago  mail-order  house.  But  when 
baby  had  arrived  she  proceeded  to  apply  to  the  care 
of  the  Infant  a  multitude  of  advanced  ideas  (brought 
home  with  her,  along  with  the  baby,  from  the  hos- 
pital) which  reduced  her  husband  to  a  state  of 
mind  bordering  upon  consternation. 

"  Why,"  said  he,  "  It  uses  up  her  hul  time,  jes' 


240  FEMINISM 

takin'  care  o'  that  little  mite.  What  would  my 
mother  'a'  done?  They  was  nine  of  us,  an'  only 
one  nurse,  my  mother,  an'  she  wuz  a  little  woman  an' 
she  had  all  the  work  besides,  an'  the  milk  an'  but- 
ter, an'  scourin'  pans  an'  washing,  an'  meals  to  git 
for  the  hul  of  us,  an'  the  hired  man  in  hayin'. 

"How  wuz  it  done?  Well,  it  wan't  done;  we 
jes'  got  along  somehow,  that's  all." 

It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  modern  machinery  has 
relieved  woman  of  some  forms  of  drudgery  and  it 
is  to  be  noted  that  along  with  this  relief  goes  a  loss 
not  always  recognised.  It  has  also  robbed  her  of 
many  innocent  handicrafts  to  lose  which  has  se- 
riously affected  her  happiness.  The  woman  of  the 
future  may  insist  upon  restoring  some  of  them.  Al- 
ready many  women  look  back  with  envy  to  the  age 
of  spinning  and  knitting,  the  making  of  wonderful 
bedquilts,  priceless  laces  and  immortal  samplers. 
Even  the  plying  of  the  harmless  domestic  needle, 
except  for  incessant  mending,  is  becoming  super- 
erogatory. I  well  remember  my  mother's  chagrin 
at  having  to  abandon  the  fine  needlework  which  was 
her  pride.  And  I  recall  another  dear  old  lady  who 
took  her  last  stand  upon  crocheted  table  mats,  which 
she,  breathing  defiance  at  modern  machinery,  re- 
fused to  abandon. 

It  is  difficult  for  men  to  realise  what  a  hardship  it 
is  to  women  to  lose  the  little  crafts  which  have  kept 
their  fingers  busy,  their  nerves  calm,  their  thoughts 
cheerful.     What  a  sense  of  cosy  comfort,  of  being 


NOTHING  TO  DO  IN  THE  HOME     241 

useful  and  busy  and  of  some  use  in  the  world,  two 
handfuls  of  knitting  will  bestow  upon  a  woman! 
Was  it  not  pitiful  to  see  the  famished  eagerness  with 
which  they  seized  upon  the  excuse  to  knit  mufflers 
for  the  soldiers,  and  was  it  not  cruel  how,  in  many 
cases,  their  work  was  snatched  out  of  their  hands 
again  by  meddlesome  and  unfeeling  economists,  who 
insisted  that  it  should  be  left  to  the  unemployed? 
"And  are  we  not  also  the  unemployed?"  they 
might  have  asked. 

It  was  related  of  my  grandmother  that  her  hands, 
except  when  holding  her  Bible,  were  never  still.  In 
old  age,  being  overtaken  with  palsy,  she  found  her- 
self obliged,  one  day,  to  discontinue  her  knitting  for- 
ever. Rolling  up  her  work  she  laid  it  aside  for  the 
last  time  and  meekly  folded  her  tired  hands  on  her 
lap,  while  a  tear  of  silent  mourning  coursed  slowly 
down  her  aged  cheek.  It  was  the  first  tear  which 
her  son,  a  grown  man,  had  ever  seen  gather  in  her 
brave  and  faithful  eyes.  No  grief  had  ever  shaken 
her  as  did  this  giving  up  of  a  little,  useful,  innocent 
craft  which  for  so  long  had  cheered  and  comforted 
her. 

Women  chained  to  lonely  farmhouses  cling  tena- 
ciously to  the  old  handicrafts,  and  it  is  here  that  the 
process  of  transmuting  leisure  gained  by  machinery 
into  the  embellishments  of  life  may  be  best  observed. 
Freed  energy,  applied  to  the  home,  causes  the  par- 
lour to  blossom  and  put  forth  "  art."  The  rag 
carpet,  the  bedquilts,  sofa  pillows,  tidies,  make  their 


242  FEMINISM 

appearance,  followed  by  the  organ  or  piano.  Very 
touching  often  are  these  first  fruits  of  the  spirit. 
The  homely  parlour  becomes  a  temple,  dedicated 
to  the  cherishing  of  such  things  believed  to  be  beau- 
tiful or  precious  as  their  owners'  poor  means  afford. 

I  have  often  stood  in  these  household  shrines  with 
tears  in  my  eyes,  so  pathetic  are  these  faint  longings 
for  beauty.  I  am  quite  unable  to  understand  the 
ridicule  so  often  cast  upon  them.  The  crude  draw- 
ings of  the  cave  man  are  regarded  with  reverence; 
but  no  sympathy  is  accorded  to  the  efforts,  almost  as 
crude  but  quite  as  sincere,  of  the  hard-working 
woman.  Yet  she,  too,  has  here  been  considering  life 
playfully,  as  something  to  be  enjoyed  and  embel- 
lished. Here  she  has  gathered  together  what  ex- 
presses for  her  brightness,  mystery,  her  reverence 
for  her  ancestors,  her  tenderest  memories,  her  most 
valued  souvenirs;  in  a  word,  the  "  highest "  that  she 
knows.  I  am,  myself,  rather  addicted  to  interior 
decoration,  and  my  own  grey  drawing-room  repre- 
sents the  last  cry  of  the  French  decorators.  But  I 
know  a  little  village  parlour,  a  pandemonium  of 
colour  from  floor  to  ceiling,  with  a  carpet  upon  which 
are  strewn  all  the  flowers  and  fruits  of  the  earth, 
with  every  nook  and  corner  aglow  with  impossible 
birds  and  blossoms,  and  crowded  with  gay,  silly 
trifling  knick-knacks,  which  to  me,  considering  what 
it  means  to  its  owner,  is  a  bower  of  enchantment. 

The  working-class  woman  cannot  get  very  far,  nor 
very  often,  from  home.     She  must  spend  her  leisure 


NOTHING  TO  DO  IN  THE  HOME     243 

in  the  same  spot  where  she  has  performed  her 
labour.  The  needle  which  she  has  used  in  hemming 
dishcloths  in  leisure  she  may  employ  in  *'  fancy 
work  "  (if  it  be  only  the  piecing  of  "  crazy  quilts  ") . 
Humble  as  her  deeds  may  be,  she  is  following  the 
method  of  the  handicrafts,  which  took  their  rise  in 
home  work  shops  and  out  of  which  all  great  arts 
have  arisen.  The  elemental  conditions  of  great  art 
have  always  been  that  leisure  must  be  spent  where 
one  has  lived  and  worked.  Work  tools  are  con- 
verted into  play  tools  and  thus  work  and  play  are 
blended  into  one.  The  carpenter  becomes  a  wood- 
carver  in  his  free  hours,  the  draughtsman  an  artist. 

Under  modern  conditions,  on  the  contrary,  the 
worker  escapes  from  his  tools  and  flies  their  very 
presence  the  moment  he  is  free.  His  tools  which, 
in  many  trades,  do  not  even  belong  to  him,  are  to 
him  symbols  of  his  bondage,  not  instruments  of  his 
deliverance.  His  leisure  is  solaced  with  idleness, 
gossip,  tobacco,  the  newspaper,  the  saloon,  the  cor- 
ner store,  the  *'  movies  " —  by  anything,  rather  than 
by  his  craft.  Under  such  circumstances  the  pursuit 
of  art  is  left  to  a  handful  of  highly  educated  per- 
sons, who  do  nothing  else,  and  who  suck  their  in- 
spiration not  from  work  and  life  but  mainly  from 
criticising  one  another.  Their  art  is  therefore  an 
artificial  product,  having  no  root  in  the  soil  of  human 
labour  and  experience. 

Women  in  the  home  are  almost  the  only  class  who 
still  maintain  the  normal  relation  to  labour,  in  that 


244  FEMINISM 

they  own  their  tools  and  in  that  they  must  remain 
near  i:heir  workshop.  They  are  thus  in  position  to 
transmute  their  daily  toil  into  a  craft  and  finally 
into  art.  There  is  no  limit  to  woman's  possible  ex- 
pansion in  her  sphere.  Not  a  department  cf  her 
province  but  needs  vast  improvements.  Consider 
cooking.  A  distinguished  scientist  at  a  recent  con- 
vention stated  that  if  he  had  his  choice  he  would 
spend  the  next  ten  years  of  his  life  experimenting 
in  a  kitchen,  so  convinced  was  he  that  he  could  serve 
mankind  better  in  no  other  way.  The  bad  feeding 
of  children  is  responsible  for  many  tribulations  and 
even  crimes  of  after  life.  Morbid  conditions  then 
set  up  result  later  in  all  sorts  of  misbehaviour,  from 
bad  manners  to  murder.  The  cravings  then  en- 
gendered develop  into  various  forms  of  dipsomania 
and  drugging,  from  the  perpetual  guzzling  of  tea 
and  coffee,  the  smoking  of  tobacco  and  the  imbib- 
ing of  beer,  up  to  the  madness  of  inebriation.  Pro- 
fessor Bailey  of  Yale  declares  that  the  sum  of  three 
billions  of  dollars  spent  annually  upon  these  seda- 
tives and  stimulants  is  "  worse  than  wasted."  It 
may  perhaps  be  doubted,  therefore,  whether  that 
woman  has  mastered  her  job  in  whose  family  the 
craving  for  these  things  exists.  The  time  has  not 
yet  come  when  woman's  especial  work  in  the  world 
has  been  so  perfectly  done  that  she  must  needs  take 
up  man's  work. 

If  a  carpenter  whose  hours  of  labour  have  been 
reduced  sells  his  labour  power  so  saved  to  some  other 


NOTHING  TO  DO  IN  THE  HOME     245 

trade,  obviously  he  has  gained  nothing.  Similarly, 
if  the  woman  who  has  been  reheved  of  household 
drudgery  sells  herself  to  commercial  drudgery  then 
nothing  whatever  for  humanity  has  been  gained. 
Only  those  persons  can  mistake  this  for  progress  in 
whose  minds  lies  always  the  fundamental  assump- 
tion that  the  object  of  human  existence  is  to  make 
money.  The  effect  of  labour-saving  machinery  for 
women  should  be  not  that  they  shall  leave  the  home 
for  another  form  of  drudgery  but  that,  remaining  in 
the  home,  they  shall  use  their  liberated  energies  in 
higher  achievements  there. 

Woman  need  not  depart  from  her  own  province  to 
find  abundant  means  of  self-development,  or  new 
achievements.  A  higher  race  is  waiting  to  be  bred. 
It  should  be  fed  upon  better  food,  clothed  more 
beautifully,  intellectually  nourished  more  abundantly. 
It  must  be  more  tenderly  and  at  the  same  time  more 
specifically  and  more  strictly  educated.  In  its  early 
years  it  must  be  morally  moulded  in  the  hollow  of 
woman's  hand.  An  enriched  family  life  will  give 
scope  for  every  talent.  Woman  may  paint  the  pic- 
tures of  her  home,  embroider  its  coverlets,  bind  its 
books,  sing  its  jubilees,  make  its  furniture,  carve  its 
statues,  write  its  love  carols,  compose  its  cradle  songs 
and  intone  its  funeral  dirges.  Her  sphere  within 
the  despised  *'  four  walls  "  of  a  house  is  as  wide  as 
the  universe. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   PROPER   EDUCATION   OF   WOMEN 

Upon  an  occasion  when  we  visited  a  woman's  col- 
lege In  a  New  England  town  we  determined  to  omit 
the  usual  tour  of  buildings,  halls,  chapels,  and  all  the 
rest  of  it,  and  considering  the  college  rather  as  be- 
ing a  sort  of  large  orchard,  confine  our  attention 
to  Inspecting  Its  fruit.  In  other  words,  we  looked 
at  the  girls!  not  the  buildings,  nor  the  libraries, 
nor  the  laboratories,  nor  the  gymnasiums,  nor  the 
dormitories,  nor  the  professors,  nor  the  classrooms, 
nor  the  recitations;  just  the  girls.  In  the  course  of 
our  Inspection  we  spent  several  hours  walking  the 
campus  over  and  over,  and  traversing  the  streets  that 
radiated  from  the  college.  We  passed  scores  and 
scores  of  girls  walking  In  groups,  chattering  or  hur- 
rying to  recitations.  They  wore  light  jackets  but 
no  hats;  and  many  carried  a  book  or  two.  In  brief 
glances  we  noted  as  minutely  as  we  could  the  details 
of  their  appearance.  The  results  were  not  reassur- 
ing. 

Although  they  were  neatly  and  appropriately 
dressed,  there  were  very  few  figures  which  one  could 
admire  for  grace  or  affluence.  Most  of  the  girls 
were  undersized;  many  were  unsymmetrlcal  and  as 
a  whole  rather  weedy.     Their  manner  of  walking 

246 


PROPER  EDUCATION  OF  WOMEN     247 

lacked  every  element  of  distinction.  The  dressing 
of  their  hair  was  usually  neat  and  simple,  but  the 
hair  itself  lacked  gloss  and  suppleness.  Generally 
It  looked  dry,  lustreless  and  brittle,  though  occasion- 
ally abundant.  The  most  disappointing  feature 
about  them  was  their  complexions.  Nowhere  did 
we  see  a  face  glowing  with  the  fresh  bloom  which, 
as  well  as  the  clear,  sparkling  eye,  we  have  a  right 
to  expect  to  see  in  a  young  girl  even  as  freshness  In 
a  rose. 

The  college  would  be,  of  course.  In  no  wise  held 
responsible  for  their  shortcomings  of  figure,  form, 
anatomy,  gait,  etc.  Our  race  Is  not  bred  for  beauty. 
But  the  state  of  the  skin  and  brightness  of  eye  Is  an 
Indication  of  general  physical  well-being  which  the 
college  should  be  responsible  for.  If  we  found  the 
roses  In  our  garden  as  spotty,  dull,  wrinkly  and  fleshy 
as  these  girls  —  we  should  change  gardeners.  Of 
eighty-three  girls  whose  young  visages  I  carefully 
scrutinised  not  one  showed  the  bloom  of  youth  — 
there  was  not  a  rosy  cheek  or  a  sparkling  eye  among 
them. 

Was  this  condition  due  to  higher  education,  to 
close  air,  to  long  hours  of  study,  to  improper  food, 
to  sedentary  occupation,  to  the  lack  of  home  life,  to 
the  lack  of  stimulus  to  the  affections,  the  lack  of  pets, 
of  lovers  ?  Was  It  due  to  diverting  the  blood  supply 
from  the  reproductive  organs  to  the  brain?  Some- 
thing clearly  was  wrong.  These  girls  were  not 
blooming  as  girls  should.     But  one  could  not  be  cer- 


248  FEMINISM 

tain  whether  higher  education  or  other  conditions 
were  responsible. 

Not  long  afterward  I  had  the  opportunity  to  make 
some  similar  observations  upon  a  large  body  of 
young  women  of  a  different  class,  who  were  not  en- 
gaged in  study,  to  whom  the  doors  of  the  institu- 
tions of  higher  learning  were  forever  closed.  The 
results  of  my  observations  in  this  case  were  even 
more  disheartening. 

I  had  landed  in  New  York  at  an  early  hour,  and 
made  my  way  to  the  shopping  district,  only  to  find 
the  shops  not  yet  open.  For  an  hour  I  stood  in  the 
doorway  of  one  of  these,  watching.  In  fascinated 
curiosity,  thousands  upon  thousands  of  working  girls 
walking  in  endless  procession  to  their  work.  How 
did  they  compare  with  the  college  girls? 

In  general  they  were  considerably  smaller,  more 
stunted,  more  weedy.  There  were  many  foreign 
faces  among  them,  many  Hebrews.  It  was  a  jumble 
of  races  and  nations,  only  in  part  of  the  American 
type.  The  faces  were  duller  than  the  college  girls' 
faces,  less  intelligent,  less  disciplined,  less  alert. 
There  were  many  bloated,  puffy  cheeks  and  star- 
tlingly  bleary  eyes.  Occasionally  a  face  of  extraor- 
dinary, striking  beauty  —  generally  In  that  case 
painted  and  powdered.  But  whatever  the  effect 
sought  for,  and  whatever  the  type  of  beauty,  it  was 
never  that  of  wholesomeness  and  health.  That 
bloom  and  sweetness,  that  glowing  fragrance,  which 
we  expect  from  youth,  Its  glistening  white  of  the  eye, 


PROPER  EDUCATION  OF  WOMEN     249 

the  merry  sparkle,  the  soft  suppleness  of  line,  the 
buoyant  elastic  tread,  the  general  air  of  vigour  and 
well-being  throughout  the  whole  body  where  there  is 
no  inert  matter,  no  tumidity,  no  flaccid  degeneration 
—  all  of  this  was  wanting  in  this  heavy-footed,  dull- 
eyed  army  filing  listlessly  to  its  daily  grind. 

If  the  object  of  life  is  merely  to  produce  com- 
modities, or  make  inventions,  or  amass  learning,  one 
wonders  why  women  were  created  at  all.  If  life 
has  for  its  goal  the  achievements  properly  belonging 
to  men,  it  is  a  pity  that  the  world  cannot  be  given 
over  to  men  entirely  and  women  retire  to  the  in- 
visible and  unknown. 

But  if  she  is  to  live,  what  is  to  be  done  with  her? 
What  goal  should  we  keep  in  view  regarding  her? 
The  schoolmen  used  to  describe  excellence  as  "  plen- 
itude of  being" — a  fine  horse  is  one  abounding  in 
horse  quality  (in  the  apt  slang  of  the  day  he  is 
"some  horse").  Everything  is  most  excellent  of 
its  kind  as  it  meets  the  particular  purpose  for  which 
it  exists.  We  say  of  a  fine  man,  "  he  is  a  good  deal 
of  a  man." 

The  proper  education  of  woman  may  perhaps  be 
sought  through  the  application  of  this  principle. 
The  virtues  common  to  both  sexes  we  yet  demand  in 
larger  measure  from  one  sex  than  the  other.  This 
difference  in  what  we  expect  springs  from  our  rooted 
conviction  that  each  sex  has  a  special  function  to  per- 
form which  it  can  do  better  than  the  other,  and  we 
therefore  are  led  particularly  to  admire  in  each  the 


250  FEMINISM 

''  plenitude  of  being ''  In  the  qualities  which  best 
fit  it  for  Its  function. 

In  woman  we  value  qualities  which  we  have  come 
to  call  womanly,  and  these  qualities  have  reference 
less  to  doing  or  knowing  than  to  her  being.  A 
man's  success  Is  measurable  largely,  almost  entirely, 
by  yard  sticks  and  quart  pots  and  avoirdupois  and 
ledger  accounts.  He  knows  so  and  so;  he  can  do 
this  and  that.  He  has  written  this  book,  made  this 
discovery,  invented  this  thing,  accomplished  that, 
passed  laws,  organised  parties,  founded  Institutions, 
built  railroads  —  above  all  "  made  "  money.  He  is 
always  expressible  in  terms  of  quantity  —  generally 
in  terms  of  dollars  and  cents. 

Great  womanHness  cannot  be  measured  in  this 
way.  It  consists  In  the  latent  possession  of  certain 
qualities  which  may  or  may  not  become  active.  It 
is  enough  that  they  are  there.  Their  very  existence 
is  a  force,  and  every  one  who  comes  in  contact  with 
the  person  knows  that  these  virtues  are  latent. 

In  a  little  four-room  flat  in  a  cheap  New  York 
apartment  house  there  lived  for  thirty  years  a  woman 
whose  every  thought  and  feeling  was  cast  in  a  colos- 
sal mould.  In  the  outside  world  her  only  son  en- 
joyed a  nation-wide  fame  for  the  things  he  "  did," 
but  every  one  who  knew  them  both  knew  perfectly 
well  that  his  doings  were  feebleness  compared  with 
what  his  mother  was.  His  affluence  and  success 
never  drew  her  from  her  humble  quarters,  partly 
because  she  preferred  retirement  and  obscurity  and 


PROPER  EDUCATION  OF  WOMEN     251 

partly  because  in  the  midst  of  surroundings  mean, 
bare,  meagre,  she  was  more  conscious  perhaps  of 
the  stores  of  power  and  self-sufficiency  Imbedded  in 
her  intrepid  soul. 

She  "  did  "  nothing,  beyond  the  slight  finger  work 
of  home  Interests,  the  needle  and  the  pen  her  only 
instruments  —  she  knew  little  beyond  the  wisdom  of 
reflection  and  experience  —  but  she  was  the  spirit 
of  woman  Incarnate.  No  college,  no  business,  no 
*'  career,"  no  "  new  life,"  no  emancipation,  no  en- 
franchisement, will  ever  be  able  to  turn  out  finer 
specimens  of  womanhood;  and  without  these,  living 
and  dying  quite  alone,  she  went  to  the  full  limit  of 
the  woman  and  touched  all  that  a  woman  can  be. 

Whenever  I  turn  over  In  my  mind  the  vexed  ques- 
tions concerning  the  education  of  women,  I  find  my- 
self asking  first  what  sort  of  a  woman  we  want  to 
produce,  and  Immediately  the  image  of  that  astound- 
ing personality  comes  to  my  mind,  and  I  say  hum- 
bly— "This  is  the  goal."  "What  are  the  means 
of  reaching  It?  "  It  Is  true  that  In  her  case  much 
of  her  power  was  inherited  from  a  noble  ancestry, 
but  the  qualities  of  womanliness  In  her  had  been  de- 
veloped In  the  process  of  leading  the  woman's  life 
—  as  devoted  daughter,  sister,  wife,  mother  and 
friend.  In  all  these  relations  her  sympathy  was 
penetrating,  her  loyalty  unswerving.  She  had  a 
passion  for  beauty  —  In  art,  in  music,  in  literature, 
and  feasted  her  soul  daily  upon  these  things.  It  was 
no  effort  for  her  to  keep  her  mind  above  gossip  and 


252  FEMINISM 

scandal  and  depression  and  pettiness,  because  these 
things  did  not  in  the  least  interest  her.  Yet  she 
was  so  little  sentimental  that  she  possessed  stores  of 
righteous  indignation  against  ignoble  conduct,  some- 
times carrying  dismay  to  wrong-doers. 

She  had  unlimited  funds  of  humour  and  gaiety, 
and  took  delight  in  social  intercourse.  She  revered 
traditions  when  they  were  noble  and  guided  her  judg- 
ments by  precepts  handed  down  to  her.  Yet  she  had 
streaks  of  strong  radicalism  and  welcomed  proposals 
for  a  better  order  of  society.  Generosity  to  new 
ideas  and  loyalty  to  old  ones  sometimes  waged  war 
in  her  mind,  but  sympathy  usually  turned  the  balance. 

She  had  an  absorbing  love  for  nature  and  got 
more  delight  from  a  glimpse  from  her  window  of  a 
patch  of  stars  between  tenement  roofs  than  many 
people  derive  from  all  out-of-doors.  She  was  in- 
tensely partisan,  idealising  her  friends  with  incor- 
rigible persistence,  taking  their  part  against  their 
enemies  more  eagerly  than  they  did  themselves. 
None  of  her  friends,  she  beheved,  ever  were  suffi- 
ciently appreciated  or  got  their  deserts.  But  when 
my  mother  used  to  turn  the  tables  on  her  and  ex- 
patiate upon  her  hidden  and  secluded  merits  she 
was  much  touched  at  such  proofs  of  groundless  de- 
votion, which  in  the  end  she  refused  to  disturb  "  be- 
cause "  she  said  "  after  all,  it  is  so  good  to  be  over- 
estimated." 

As  I  pass  her  qualities  in  review,  fortitude,  sym- 
pathy, cheerfulness,  proud  self-reliance,  capacity  for 


PROPER  EDUCATION  OF  WOMEN     253 

enjoying  little  things,  love  of  home,  devotion  to 
friends,  loyalty,  playfulness,  enthusiasm  for  the 
good,  reverence  for  beauty,  gentleness,  humour,  re- 
finement, simplicity,  contentment,  absence  of  ambi- 
tion, vanity  or  restlessness  —  and  realise  that  these 
are  qualities  which  neither  the  higher  education  or 
the  higher  business  or  politics  nor  any  of  the  new 
activities  promote,  nor  are  they  qualities  which  count 
in  those  places  —  I  realise  that  they  are  the  product 
of  a  totally  different  set  of  influences,  and  just  as 
they  are  the  qualities  which  produce  a  home  and 
promote  family  happiness,  they  also  are  the  qualities 
which  were  produced  by  the  home  and  by  family 
happiness. 

I  conclude  that  the  best  education  for  a  woman 
consists  in  being  the  daughter  of  a  noble  home- 
keeping  mother,  and  living  as  a  little  girl  at  that 
mother's  side,  doing  what  she  does,  reading  with 
her,  sewing,  cleaning,  playing,  exercising  with  her. 
Later,  with  a  few  —  a  very  few  —  other  little  girls, 
learning  to  play  together  under  the  supervision  of  a 
teacher.  Still  later  specialising  on  some  womanly 
vocation,  I.e.,  one  that  does  not  compete  with  men; 
one  that  is  calculated  to  bring  gaiety,  joy,  order, 
peace,  or  homeliness  Into  the  world.  In  short,  she 
is  to  receive  an  education  of  the  family  by  the  family 
for  the  family,  that  the  family  may  not  perish  from 
the  earth. 


CHAPTER  VII 

EUGENICS  AND  WOMAN 

Eugenics  is  the  name  given  to  what,  it  is  hoped, 
may  some  day  be  a  science  of  "  being  well  born,"  a 
science  by  means  of  which  a  higher  race  may  be 
produced  and  man  shall  achieve  his  most  stupendous 
conquest  —  that  of  lifting  himself  above  himself. 

Greater  care  and  skill  in  mating,  seconded  by 
greater  skill  in  child  rearing,  are  the  methods  of 
eugenics  and  in  the  attainment  of  its  goals  woman 
will  play  the  leading  part.  Her  selective  ability,  al- 
though largely  instinctive,  is  superior  to  man's.  She 
is,  for  instance,  usually  repelled  by  a  sick  man, 
whereas  the  propensity  of  men  to  choose  sickly  wives 
is  notorious  and  deplorable.  In  the  illegitimate 
miscegenation  of  whites  with  blacks  it  is  almost  in- 
variably the  man  who  commits  this  eugenic  sin. 
The  woman  is  more  tenacious  of  her  position  upon 
a  higher  racial  level  and  is  unwilling  to  degrade  her 
offspring.  She  feels  more  acutely  the  eugenic  con- 
sequences of  mating:  her  eugenic  sense,  both  as  to 
purity  of  race  and  superiority  among  individuals 
within  the  race,  is  stronger. 

As  Burbank  has  bred  many  excellencies  into  his 
plants  and  flowers  and  the  great  animal  breeders 

254 


EUGENICS  AND  WOMAN  255 

have  created  new  and  wonderful  strains  of  horses, 
sheep  and  cattle,  while  plant  growers  have  added 
untold  sums  to  the  national  wealth  by  improving 
wheat  and  corn,  it  seems  not  too  much  to  expect  that 
some  day  the  way  will  be  clear  to  an  improvement 
even  more  valuable  in  the  human  species.  Hu- 
manism, which  places  the  welfare  of  the  race  above 
the  temporary  advantage  of  the  individual,  will  re- 
gard eugenics  as  its  handmaid. 

Because  we  do  not  as  yet  fully  understand  the  laws 
of  heredity,  and  because  we  have  not  the  courage 
to  apply  such  knowledge  as  we  have,  eugenics  ap- 
pears to  be  to-day  hardly  practicable;  but  mankind 
must  find,  some  day,  a  way  to  start  on  the  eugenic 
quest  —  a  real  search  for  the  Holy  Grail.  Already 
mankind  is  beginning  to  realise  how  only  partially 
all  its  other  hopes  for  progress,  without  better  be- 
ings, can  prosper.  The  European  War  has  done 
much  to  hasten  this  awakening.  It  has  revealed, 
with  appalling  clearness,  how  frail  were  the  props 
upon  which  society  leaned.  Christianity,  socialism, 
science,  philosophy,  ethics,  high  finance,  industrial- 
ism, commerce,  means  of  communication,  identity  of 
religion,  education,  prudence,  justice  —  the  whole 
fabric  of  civilisation,  in  twenty-four  hours,  shud- 
dered as  from  an  earthquake. 

So  must  it  be  with  all  our  devices,  our  strategies, 
our  schemes  and  struggles  to  achieve  human  advance 
unless  at  the  same  time  we  give  more  attention  to 
the  production  of  a  more  highly  organised,  more 


256  FEMINISM 

reasonable  race  of  men.  At  present,  neglecting  this 
principle,  the  world  puts  excessive  and  dispropor- 
tionate reliance  for  progress  upon  the  improvement 
of  environment.  While  the  farmer  knows  well  that 
good  seed  is  quite  as  potent  as  good  soil  in  securing 
for  him  better  crops,  in  human  improvement  we  aim 
exclusively  at  bettering  conditions,  and  becauG^  no 
care  at  all  is  taken  to  improve  the  quality  of  our 
race,  colossal  efforts  have  to  be  continually  exerted 
to  patch  up  inferior  material  into  a  semblance  of 
reason  and  virtue.  Every  fresh  disclosure  of  hu- 
man shortcomings  only  serves  to  redouble  the  de- 
mand for  more  schools,  more  churches,  libraries, 
hospitals;  more  comforts,  more  charity,  amusements, 
playgrounds,  free  baths,  dance  halls,  clubs;  more 
police,  more  preaching,  more  government,  more 
/otes,  more  laws  (especially  more  laws)  —  more  ef- 
forts of  every  kind  to  "  do  something  "  which  means 
always  to  improve  conditions.  Thus  we  put  forth 
vast  effort  to  reduce  the  volume  of  smoke  but  none 
to  put  out  the  fire. 

In  our  eagerness  to  elaborate  education  we  forget 
that  a  more  Intelligent  crop  of  children  would  do 
better  with  less  education.  We  build  more  churches 
and  preach  more  desperately,  oblivious  that  a 
sounder  race  would  of  its  own  free  will  live  vir- 
tuously. We  pour  out  streams  of  charity,  much  of 
which  Is  but  watering  a  swamp,  forgetful  that  a 
sturdier  race  would  know  how  to  help  Itself.  We 
struggle  earnestly  to  mitigate  the  effects  of  social 


EUGENICS  AND  WOMAN  257 

inequalities  (which  we  maintain)  and  to  soften  the 
cruelty  of  the  strong  toward  the  weak.  We  forget 
how  unnecessary  this  would  be  were  the  weak  re- 
placed by  persons  who  would  not  permit  us  to  op- 
press them.  We  compassionately  multiply  hos- 
pitals and  insane  asylums,  oblivious  that  a  sound  and 
robust  race  would  turn  these  mournful  dungeons  into 
pleasure  halls  and  gymnasia,  and  laugh  our  charity 
to  scorn.  We  pile  laws  upon  laws,  exaggerate  the 
importance  of  legislation,  demand  that  everybody 
(even  women,  and  perhaps  children)  shall  partici- 
pate in  politics  —  forgetting  that  a  more  sensible 
race  would  burn  the  law  books,  reduce  law  codes  to 
a  few  rules,  entrust  voting  to  a  representative  hand- 
ful of  just  and  sturdy  men  and  turn  its  own  thoughts 
to  the  higher  reaches  of  creative  endeavour. 

It  is  beginning  to  appear  that  the  evils  of  the 
world  can  by  no  other  means  be  cured  than  by  sum- 
moning from  the  loins  of  humanity  its  hidden  treas- 
ure —  a  nobler  race.  The  lesson  we  never  learn 
is  not  to  expect  of  poor  humanity  more  than  it  is  at 
present  capable  of.  We  seem  unable  to  renounce 
the  hope  that  somehow  men  can  be  talked  or 
preached  into  being  better  than  they  are  —  or  at 
least  into  acting  as  though  they  were  better.  But 
every  now  and  then  the  veneer  cracks.  At  the  out- 
burst of  the  European  War  the  principles  of  Chris- 
tianity and  socialism  broke  down  utterly  and  both 
became  the  laughing-stock  of  unbelievers  every- 
where.    The  manner  in  which  they  burst  showed 


258  FEMINISM 

them  to  be  bubbles,  or  dreams ;  very  far,  as  yet,  from 
possessing  any  binding  validity  in  our  consciousness. 

Who  shall  say,  however,  that  this  must  always  be 
the  case?  When  the  War  Age  and  the  Industrial 
Age  and  the  Age  of  Unrealisable  Aspirations  shall 
all  have  been  tried  out  and  found  wanting,  then  must 
not  the  Eugenic  Age  come,  if  for  no  other  reason 
than  because  no  other  resource  will  be  left  us? 

When  it  comes,  the  Eugenic  Age  will  be  the  true 
Woman's  Age,  because  its  province  is  always  hers 
and  in  it  she  will  come  to  her  own.  That  it  has 
been  long  delayed  is  due  largely  to  her  failure  to 
assert  herself,  to  make  herself  count  for  all  she  is 
worth.  All  her  following  after  man  into  his  world 
is  wholly  off  the  track,  and  means  an  indefinite  post- 
ponement of  her  final  arrival. 

Eugenics  is  essentially  and  profoundly  the  coming 
Woman's  Movement  because  she  is  the  temple  of  the 
race,  the  guardian  of  the  life  force,  the  priestess  of 
posterity.  By  all  her  normal  predilections  woman 
is  adapted  to  the  culture  of  eugenics.  She  bestows 
her  chief  interest  normally  upon  questions  regarding 
marriage,  births,  matings,  family  histories,  ro- 
mances, love  affairs,  traditions,  the  consideration  of 
physical  appearance,  vigour,  defects,  beauty  of  per- 
son and  of  character,  ugliness,  health,  disease,  fer- 
tility, virtues,  vices.  All  of  such  matters  are  of  the 
closest  concern  to  the  healthy,  unspoiled  woman. 
The  reason  for  it  is  very  naturally  to  be  found  in 


EUGENICS  AND  WOMAN  259 

the  fact  that  these  matters  are  closely  bound  up 
with  her  happiness,  but  biology  hints  at  a  still  deeper 
reason. 

The  female  reproductive  cell,  In  those  simple 
forms  of  life  so  far  specially  explored,  contains  an 
extra  chromosome  (so  called  because  it  takes  on 
colour  when  dyed).  This  is  a  matter  of  probable 
importance  if,  as  is  supposed,  these  chromosomes  are 
the  vessels  of  sex  energy.  At  the  very  inception  of 
her  life  the  female  appears  thus  to  be  more  heavily 
weighted  as  to  sex  than  is  the  male.  This  may  per- 
haps offer  a  physical  explanation  of  the  indubitable 
fact  that,  throughout  her  career,  woman  stands 
closer  to  sex  than  man  —  that  is,  she  is  more  deeply 
involved  in  it,  is  in  all  her  being  more  generally 
suffused  by  it. 

Modern  life,  which  is  driving  or  luring  vast  num- 
bers of  women  away  from  the  strictly  womanly  ex- 
istence Into  exhausting  industries.  Is  tending  to  be- 
numb the  vitality  of  the  extra  chromosome.  In 
many  women  that  vital  atom  would  appear  to  be 
either  already  dead  or  else  in  a  state  of  suspended 
animation.  Dr.  Saleesby  suggests,  for  example,  that 
the  power  of  nursing  their  infants  is  being  lost  by 
many  modern  women.  In  England  already  only  one 
mother  in  eight  nurses  her  Infant.  The  failure  of 
lactation  may  or  may  not  accompany  a  decline  in 
reproductive  power,  but  at  least  it  indicates  that  the 
highest  of  all  mammals  may  one  day  (what  a  day 


26o  FEMINISM 

of  triumph  for  Feminism)  cease  to  be  a  mammal. 
To  some  feminists  the  change  brings  woman  from  a 
condition  of  being  ''  oversexed  "  down  to  a  normal 
level,  but  in  the  view  of  other  observers  the  condi- 
tion of  being  oversexed  is  the  normal  for  the  hu- 
man female  and  anything  under  it  is  subnormal. 

To  say  that  woman  is  more  heavily  "  weighted  " 
with  sex  than  man  may  sound  fanciful,  but  it  aptly 
suggests  that  curiously  high  specific  gravity  with 
which  even  a  delicate  woman  who  is  saturated  with 
femininity  seems  to  be  spiritually  invested,  and 
which  may  be  due  to  the  premonitions  of  pregnancy 
that  haunt  even  her  virgin  years.  Great  bodily  ac- 
tivity, a  sign  of  vigour  in  a  man,  is  always  suspicious 
in  a  woman.  A  still  man  is  generally  a  sick  man, 
while  the  stillest  women  are  the  happiest.  Restless- 
ness in  man  often  marks  unused  energy  —  in  woman 
more  often  it  accompanies  excitement.  For  this  rea- 
son smoking  tobacco,  admissible  in  men,  Is  a  distaste- 
ful sight  in  women.  We  dislike  a  woman  who  has 
lost  her  womanly  calm  and  resorts  to  artificial  nar- 
cotics to  help  regain  what  is  expected  to  be  her  nor- 
mal poise.  It  is  like  seeing  a  man  resort  to  brandy 
to  bolster  up  the  manly  courage  which  we  expect  him 
to  command  without  artificial  assistance. 

The  instinct  for  quietude  was  early  demonstrated 

j/Vby  woman.     Primitive  woman,  say  the  anthropolo- 

^      gists,  showed  herself  averse  to  aggressive  pursuits. 

^       She    was    devotedly    industrious    and    Ingeniously 

founded  the  crafts,  but  if  there  was  killing  to  do  or 


EUGENICS  AND  WOMAN  261 

something  strenuous  to  be  accomplished,  she  left  It 
to  man's  superior  strength  and  greater  pugnacity. 
To  this  day,  woman  does  violence,  to  herself  when 
she  becomes  aggressive  in  imitation  of  man,  and  no- 
toriously outdoes  him  in  unscrupulousness  whenever 
she  competes  with  him  in  the  exercise  of  qualities 
not  natural  to  her.  Thus,  In  sexual  aberrations,  her 
cure  is  as  much  more  difficult  than  his  as  her  fall  has 
been  greater. 

Pride  in  motherhood  is  to  be  the  lever  that  will 
move  the  world  toward  eugenics;  for  in  order  to 
produce  the  great  man  —  the  hero,  saint,  sage,  seer, 
artist,  scientist.  Inventor,  statesman  —  it  Is  first 
necessary  to  produce  a  great  baby  (and  to  accom- 
plish this  every  woman  whose  extra  chromosome  Is 
in  working  order.  Is  eager).  In  the  precious  per- 
son of  the  Great  Baby  the  future  smiles.  The  or- 
dinary baby  who  has  everything  to  do  for  himself 
(literally  his  own  way  to  make),  finds  the  odds  are 
too. heavy;  the  common  span  of  life  Is  far  too  short 
for  him  to  accomplish  much.  But  the  well-born 
baby  has  already  been  carried  far  on  his  way  before 
his  birth.  His  ancestors  strove  for  his  same  goal 
and  their  victories  are  already  in  his  blood.  His 
battle  is  half  won  from  the  start.  Hence  the  poise 
and  harmony  of  the  well  bred. 

Why  should  not  this,  the  highest  gift  of  the  gods, 
be  some  day  the  patrimony  of  all  Instead  of  being  the 
endowment  of  only  the  lucky  fev/?  How  can  we, 
indeed,    continue   to   prate    of   democracy   and   of 


262  FEMINISM 

equality  so  long  as  this  fundamental  and  essential 
equality  of  being  well  born  is  denied  to  most  and 
so  long  as  efforts  to  secure  it  for  all  are  not  begun, 
nor  considered,  nor  scarcely  dreamed  of  I 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE   FAMILY  AND   THE   SERVANT 

Let  us  define  the  "  servant "  as  a  person  who  per- 
forms, in  a  family,  menial,  personal  services  for  no 
other  motive  than  for  wages. 

The  servant,  properly  speaking,  is  a  function  of 
the  family.  A  waitress  in  a  restaurant,  is  not,  for 
example,  properly  a  servant. 

The  governess,  although  she  resides  in  the  family 
and  works  for  hire,  is  yet  not  a  servant  because  her 
service  is  not  menial. 

A  maiden  sister  or  aunt  who  resides  in  the  family, 
who  performs  constantly  menial,  personal  services,  is 
n-ot  a  servant,  because  she  does  not  work  for  hire. 
All  of  the  conditions  of  the  definition  must  be  pres- 
ent before  we  have  the  servant. 

The  social  ancestor  of  the  servant,  the  serf  or  the 
family  slave,  the  handmaid  or  the  bondwoman,  was 
essentially  a  member  of  the  family,  sharing  its  good 
or  ill-fortune.  The  modern  servant  is  no  longer 
*'  one  of  the  family."  Among  other  reasons  may 
be  mentioned  the  fact  that  the  average  stay  of  the 
average  servant  in  a  place  is  said  to  be  now  only 
two  weeks ! 

It  is  inevitable  that  the  servant  and  the  family 
mutually  jar;  they  belong  to  two  different  orders  of 

263 


2,64  FEMINISM 

society.  The  servant  belongs  to  the  commercial  or- 
der; serving  is  her  business,  and  the  principle  of 
business  is  to  get  as  much  and  give  as  little  as  you 
can.  In  the  family,  mutual  service  is  freely  given. 
Towards  the  servant  the  house  mother  must,  how- 
ever, also  apply  commercial  principles  and  get  as 
much  as  she  can  for  her  money.  Thus  the  commer- 
cial principle  is  introduced  into  the  family  —  the 
spot  of  all  the  world  which  should  remain  uncon- 
taminated  by  it. 

Therefore  the  healthy  family  instinctively  resents 
the  servant  as  an  alien  and  perplexing  influence. 
She  interrupts  family  intercourse,  disturbs  family 
confidence,  robs  the  family  of  privacy.  When  she 
departs  a  family  will  sometimes  break  into  antics  of 
glee  and  mirth  which  continue  until  it  is  again  cowed 
by  the  arrival  of  her  successor.  One  husband  told 
the  writer  that  the  happiest  days  of  his  wedded  life 
had  been  the  periods  of  a  week  or  two  which  his 
wife  always  insisted  on  taking  to  set  her  house  in 
order  between  the  departure  of  one  servant  and  the 
arrival  of  the  next. 

The  servant  comes  between  the  members  of  the 
family,  performing  services  which  they  should  per- 
form for  one  another  in  order  to  strengthen  the 
bonds  of  affection  between  them.  Many  a  divorce 
might  be  traced  to  a  wedge  cunningly  driven  in  be- 
tween husband  and  wife  by  a  malicious  servant. 
Many  a  married  couple  looks  back  regretfully  to  the 
lost  intimacy  of  their  early  married  days,  when  they 


THE  FAMILY  AND  THE  SERVANT     265 

"  waited  on  "  each  other,  before  servants  came  be- 
tween them.  It  has  often  been  observed  that  illness 
which  rallied  the  members  of  a  family  to  minister 
to  a  suffering  loved  one,  brought  them  closer  to- 
gether, and  revealed  the  love  they  had  been  in  dan- 
ger of  losing  sight  of.  The  family  wishes  to  be  all 
in  all  to  its  members,  but  here  in  the  midst  of  them 
appears  a  stranger  who,  although  sharing  their  roof, 
would  not  give  them  a  cup  of  water  unless  paid  for 
it.  Nor  would  they,  on  their  part,  tolerate  her  so- 
ciety for  an  hour  did  she  not  perform  continually 
menial  services  for  them. 

Between  the  house  mother  and  the  servant  there 
Is  ground  for  eternal  friction.  The  mother  is  de- 
voted to  the  upkeep  of  her  family,  the  health  and 
growth  of  her  children,  the  happiness  and  welfare 
of  her  dear  ones.  The  service  seems  to  her  so 
precious,  so  valuable;  she  would  sacrifice  her  life  to 
do  it  well;  she  does  it  freely,  without  money  and 
without  price !  *'  All  I  ask  in  this  life,"  said  such 
a  mother  to  the  writer,  "  is  to  see  my  husband  and 
children  well  and  happy." 

But  now  another  woman  has  come  into  the  home. 
She  performs  the  same  services  for  the  same  dear 
man,  the  same  wonderful  children.  Only  they  are 
not  dear  or  wonderful  to  her;  she  cares  not  a  pin  for 
them.  She  has  come  for  money  and  she  stays  for 
money.  To  the  house  mother  she  is  strangely  in- 
appreciative  and  lacking  in  sensibility;  the  mercenari- 
ness  of  her  gets  onto  one's  nerves.     And  if,  through 


i66  FEMINISM 

her  careless  indifference,  anything  happens  (baby 
left  out  in  the  rain,  or  dropped)  or  in  any  way  the 
family  health  be  endangered  —  the  mother's  rage 
knows  no  bounds.  '*  Take  her  out  of  my  house ;  she 
is  a  fiend,  a  heartless  fiend;  she  has  no  sympathy  with 
our  troubles,"  begged  a  sick  mother  tearfully  of  her 
physician,  referring  to  an  antipathetic  servant. 

The  servant  difficulty  bears  hardest  upon  mothers. 
In  the  first  place,  households  with  children  are 
avoided  by  servants.  Many  servants,  especially 
those  of  quiet  and  orderly  disposition,  will  take  only 
situations  in  families  where  there  are  no  children. 
Beside  their  noise  and  disorderliness,  the  imper- 
tinences which  children  commit  toward  servants,  un- 
checked In  many  cases  by  Indulgent  parents,  are  re- 
sented by  self-respecting  servants.  Cooks  are  often 
especially  Irritable  toward  the  interruptions  and  im- 
portunities of  children  and  their  youthful  propensity 
for  "  gettin'  Into  everything."  A  new  cook's  first 
battle  sometimes  turns  upon  the  vexed  point  as  to 
whether  the  children  are  to  "  keep  out  of  the 
kitchen  " —  or  not.  An  anxious  mother.  In  an  em- 
ployment agency,  trying  to  explain  away  the  ex- 
istence of  her  offspring,  or  at  least  extenuate  her  of- 
fence, is  one  of  the  most  pathetic  figures  in  contem- 
porary society.  "I  —  I  —  have  only  three,"  she 
stammers,  "  and  they  are  very  nice  children,  so  quiet, 
they  never  cry,  no  trouble  at  all — "  she  murmurs 
with  a  sinking  heart,  while  she  meets  the  cold,  steely 
glitter  in  the  servant's  eye  which  says  as  plain  as 


THE  FAMILY  AND  THE  SERVANT     267 

words :  "  You  needn't  be  givin'  me  that.  Them 
lies  is  old." 

The  relationship  between  servant  and  child  is 
essentially  unsound  and  is  instinctively  felt  to  be  such 
by  each  of  them.  The  institution  is  one  devised  by 
grown-ups  for  their  own  personal  convenience  and 
it  often  arouses  in  its  hapless  victims  mutually  vin- 
dictive passions.  A  child  who  is  being  dragged, 
kicking  and  screaming,  away  from  its  parents  (who 
wish,  for  the  moment,  to  be  rid  of  it)  by  a  servant 
who  would  like  to  be  permanently  rid  of  it  —  is  a 
pitiful  object  both  for  its  misery  and  for  its  im- 
potence. It  is  only  equalled  in  unpleasantness  by  the 
servant  herself,  also  miserable  and  impotent,  when 
she  gets  the  child  alone  and  can  give  vent  to  her 
feelings  untrammelled.  The  upbringing  of  the  hu- 
man young  demands  endless  patience  which  is  pro- 
vided normally  in  parents  by  their  love  for  their 
offspring  and  by  their  hope  of  receiving  one  day 
abundant  recompense  for  their  efforts  when  the  child 
shall  emerge  into  power  and  maturity.  Neither  of 
these  motives  is  of  any  help  to  the  servant.  She  has 
no  hope  of  future  recompense  nor  has  she  present 
love;  she  has  nothing  but  her  need  of  twenty  dollars 
a  month,  board  and  lodging.  But  the  need  of 
twenty  dollars  a  month  is  not  of  sufficient  power  and 
richness  in  the  catalogue  of  human  springs  of  action 
to  provide  the  copious  outflow  of  love  and  patience 
which  children  require. 

Women  of  experience  have  told  me  that  the  in- 


268  FEMINISM 

fluence  of  servants  on  their  children  had  been  almost 
invariably  bad.  Either  the  servant  indulges  it  or 
bullies  it  or  neglects  it  —  with  equal  disadvantage. 
To  enter  into  a  conspiracy  to  defeat  the  will  of  the 
parents  Is  not  uncommon.  "  Don't  tell  mother; 
what  she  don't  know  won't  hurt  her,"  is  the  motto 
of  such  cabals.  Habits  of  deception  toward  her 
mother  were  inculcated  by  a  series  of  servants  in  the 
mind  of  a  little  girl  whose  mother  was  deaf.  A 
visitor  once  heard  the  child,  with  a  smile,  which 
totally  misled  her  unhappy  parent,  cursing  her 
mother  in  round  terms  to  her  face,  while  the  mother, 
unknowing,  smiled  contentedly  back. 

For  the  sake  of  peace  most  parents  are  glad  when 
servants  succeed,  as  some  do,  in  winning  the  affec- 
tion of  their  little  tyrants.  But  even  this  amiable 
ability  may  work  ill,  as  was  shown  in  a  case  known 
to  the  writer.  "  Before  you  engage  me  as  govern- 
ess," said  a  charming  young  woman  to  her  pros- 
pective employers,  "  I  must  tell  you  that  there  is  one 
serious  drawback  about  me;  the  children  in  my 
charge  become  very  fond  of  me.  I  have  recently 
lost  two  excellent  positions  because  of  it." 

"  Be  quite  easy  on  that  score  in  our  home,"  they 
replied;  *'  the  more  our  children  love  you  the  better 
pleased  we  shall  be." 

"  Very  well,"  she  replied,  "  but  please  don't  say 
later  that  I  did  not  give  you  fair  warning." 

"  Go  ahead,  don't  mind  us,  do  your  worst," 
laughed  the  fond  father  gleefully.     Yet  within  six 


THE  FAMILY  AND  THE  SERVANT     269 

months  these  parents  were  obliged  to  dismiss  the 
charming  governess  because  the  children  had  become 
so  infatuated  with  her  that  they  could  not  be  sep- 
arated from  her  except  by  force,  and  would  have 
nothing  to  do  with  their  parents,  whose  society,  in 
comparison,  had  become  tiresome  to  them.  This  Is 
an  extreme  case,  but  In  the  mind  of  a  sensitive 
mother  there  is  seldom  absent  a  misgiving,  when 
the  strange  woman  steps  in  between  her  and  her 
darling,  a  misgiving  that  she  may  in  some  way  dam- 
age the  child,  or  else  —  equally  to  be  feared  —  in 
the  child's  heart  supplant  its  mother. 

Aside  from  her  effect  upon  children,  the  situa- 
tion of  the  servant  in  the  family  Is  often  that  of  an 
Irritating  foreign  body,  and  a  wild  longing  to  expel 
them  wholly  from  her  home  sometimes  besets  women 
In  whom  the  fire  of  domesticity  burns  pure.  "  The 
relation  Is  a  hateful  one,  and  nothing  can  cure  It," 
said  one  such  woman  to  me  one  day. 

Most  women  are  afraid  to  discuss  the  question 
freely.  They  are  ashamed  to  say  how  many  times 
they  have  changed  cooks,  for  If  the  neighbourhood 
and  the  servant  world  and  the  employment  agencies 
get  wind  of  It  —  her  difficulties  will  increase;  she 
will  be  called  "  hard  "  and  only  the  "  tough  "  mem- 
bers of  the  trade  will  venture  into  her  service.  So 
she  thinks  It  wiser  to  keep  still  about  her  troubles. 
Then  suddenly  she  has  a  run  of  luck.  She  gets  "  a 
nice  girl  " —  who  stays.  All  the  reason  which  led 
"  the  others  "  to  depart  leave  her  untouched.     All 


270  FEMINISM 

the  reasons  which  led  to  the  dismissal  of  her  pred- 
ecessors seem  absent  in  her.  It  seems  too  good  to 
be  true;  yet  month  after  month  glides  away  and 
"  she  "  is  still  there !  Self-confidence  begins  to  ooze 
slowly  back  in  the  bosom  of  her  employer.  Like 
a  wet  hen  after  a  shower,  she  shakes  herself  and 
prepares  to  hold  up  her  head  once  more.  Presently 
she  begins  to  look  pityingly  upon  other  evidently  less 
capable  and  amiable  mistresses.  A  few  months 
later  she  will  be  saying  confidently,  "  I  never  have 
any  trouble  with  servants  whatever.  They  are  de- 
voted to  me.  My  present  maid  will  do  anything 
for  me.  I  couldn't  drive  her  away  with  a  club. 
After  all,  it  is  only  a  question  of  careful  selection. 
One  must  know  how  to  pick  them  out !  ''  Yet  in  her 
heart  she  knows  that  next  week  she  may  be  trudging 
about  from  one  office  to  another,  heavy  at  heart 
and  humbled  to  the  dust.  Then  it  will  be  no  more 
a  question  of  "  picking  out  carefully  "  with  her;  she 
is  prepared  to  take  anything  she  can  get. 

In  most  cases  the  relationship  between  mistress 
and  maid  Is  one  of  veiled  conflict  which  both  would 
be  glad  to  end  in  a  moment  if  they  could,  and, 
within  a  year  or  two  at  most,  their  compact  is  joy- 
fully dissolved  by  mutual  consent.  Then  one  seeks 
a  new  mistress  and  the  other  a  new  maid  in  pleased 
anticipation  of  a  new  situation  wherein,  during  a 
brief  interval  before  hostihties  are  again  renewed, 
a  pretence  of  mutual  good-will  may  be  kept  up.  Ex- 
ceptions appear  where  the  servant,  by  long  stay  or 


THE  FAMILY  AND  THE  SERVANT     271 

unusual  congeniality,  has  really  become  "  one  of 
the  family."  Exceptions,  too,  occur  in  the  case  of 
young  maids,  fresh  from  their  own  family  circle,  who 
have  not  yet  lost  the  capacity  for  daughterly  feeling 
and  who  are  thus  able  to  inspire  a  motherly  regard 
in  their  mistress.  A  cessation  of  hostilities  some- 
times occurs  too,  between  aged  serving  women  and 
their  aged  mistresses,  both  too  old  to  fight  any  longer 
and  desirous  of  peace  at  any  price.  There  is  also 
the  incompetent  mistress  who  lies  down  at  the  out- 
set, suffers  servants  to  ride  over  her  and  "  gets 
along  "  famously.  There  is  again  a  small  number 
of  shrewd  housekeepers,  with  a  faculty  for  selecting 
and  controlling  servants,  who  are  able  to  monopolise 
the  best  in  the  market. 

As  the  demand  for  servants  increases  (through 
the  growth  of  the  wealthy  class)  and  the  supply 
diminishes  (through  the  opening  of  other  occupa- 
tions to  women),  the  situation  is  bound  to  become 
worse,  and  means  of  escape  are  already  being  sought 
by  many  persons  who  find  their  chains  more  galling 
in  proportion  as  their  dependence  upon  servants  be- 
comes more  confirmed.  Some  flee  to  hotels  for 
refuge,  but  that  method  offers  no  real  escape  from 
servants.  On  the  contrary,  the  refugee  finds  these 
unfortunate  beings  there  in  still  greater  numbers. 
They  stand  about  and  meet  one  everywhere.  They 
possess  keys  to  one's  room  and  pry  into  one's  draw- 
ers; they  hang  over  one  at  table,  their  palms  out- 
stretched, metaphorically,  in  perpetual  solicitation. 


272  FEMINISM 

It  is  said  that  servants,  despite  this  humiliating  posi- 
tion, prefer  hotel  to  private  service  as  being  more 
regular  and  less  subject  to  personal  whims.  Never- 
theless I  cannot  remember  to  have  noted  on  the  pale, 
sad  faces  of  hotel  servants  any  the  less  that  fixed 
look  of  weary  endurance  which  marks  the  servant 
class. 

The  evils  associated  with  the  servant  problem  are 
sometimes  attributed  to  the  iniquities  of  servants 
and  sometimes  to  the  natural  depravity  of  mistresses. 
Mistresses  are  enjoined  to  take  their  maids  to  their 
hearts ;  to  put  a  pretty  picture  in  their  room,  to  keep 
the  fashion  magazines  or  the  latest  novel  on  the 
kitchen  table,  while  dainty  gifts,  such  as  opera 
glasses,  silk  umbrellas,  or  corner  lots  are  often  rec- 
ommended as  valuable.  It  is  said  that  if  we  allude 
to  servants  as  "  lady  helpers  " —  all  may  yet  be  well ! 
One  even  hears  that  a  rocking  chair  In  the  pantry 
will  heal  all  wounds  and  smooth  the  path  of  diffi- 
culty. As  for  the  servant,  her  proper  course  is 
clear;  she  should  "  make  her  employer's  interests 
her  own.*'  Let  her  but  ponder  well  this  great  and 
simple  maxim ! 

"  I  will  arise  at  four  A.  M.,"  she  should  say  to 
herself,  "  and  surprise  my  mistress  by  stoking  the 
furnace  that  she  may  dispense  with  a  man.  If  the 
family  are  ill  I  will  nurse  them  and  save  the  cost  of 
a  nurse.  The  more  company  the  family  have  and 
the  more  work  the  company  make,  the  better  I  shall 
be  pleased,  for  all  those  things  show  that  the  missus 


THE  FAMILY  AND  THE  SERVANT     273 

and  I  have  many  friends  and  are  prosperous.  Also, 
I  will  lower  my  wages,  since  it  is  clearly  for  her  in- 
terest that  I  should  do  so,  and  what  she  saves  on 
my  wages  she  may  spend  on  more  furniture  for  me 
to  dust.  This,  too,  I  shall  welcome,  seeing  that  our 
interests  are  one." 

The  mark  of  domestic  success  being  the  servant 
who  "  stays,"  to  this  end  we  bend  our  most  earnest 
efforts.  The  finer  person  she  is,  the  harder  we  try, 
in  our  humble  way,  to  find  favour  in  her  sight,  so 
that  she  will  stay,  and  stay.  Moreover,  the  more 
faithful  and  able  she  is  —  and  therefore  the  more 
desirable  that  she  should  go  away  from  us  at  once, 
without  a  moment's  delay,  and  marry,  and  raise  a 
family  like  herself,  the  more  determined  we  are  that 
she  shall  remain  a  virgin  consecrated  to  our  service. 

"  I  never  have  any  trouble  with  servants  because 
I  treat  my  maids  so  well,"  said  a  proud  matron  to  me 
once.  "  My  Katy  has  been  with  me  seven  years. 
She  was  engaged  to  be  married  when  she  came,  but 
I  headed  her  off  by  raising  her  wages  every  year  and 
giving  her  silk  waists  and  vacation  and  theatre 
tickets  and  everything  I  could  think  of.  She  has 
become  my  friend;  my  home  is  her  home." 

"  And  what  of  her  young  man?  " 

*'  Oh,  he  grew  tired  of  waiting  and  married  an- 
other girl  —  a  poor,  sickly  thing,  not  half  so  fine  a 
woman  as  Katy." 

Now  this  amiable  mistress  is  obviously  an  enemy 
of  the  human  race.     The  better  she  treats  her  Katies 


274  FEMINISM 

the  worse  it  will  be  for  posterity.  "  Treat  them 
well  and  there  will  be  an  end  of  the  servant  prob- 
lem," said  she.  Alas!  that  is  not  the  end  of  the 
problem;  it  is  only  the  beginning. 

Her  boast  was  a  common  one.  A  staying  serv- 
ant is  universally  regarded  in  somewhat  the  same 
light  as  the  Iron  Cross  or  a  V.  C,  to  be  won  for 
valour,  conferring  distinction  upon  a  mistress  and 
shedding  a  reflected  glory  upon  the  entire  family. 
Even  Ruskin,  one  remembers,  wrote  most  compla- 
cently of  an  aged  serving-woman  of  his  mother's 
whose  entire  life,  from  girlhood  to  old  age,  was  con- 
sumed in  ministering  unremittingly  to  their  crea- 
ture comforts.  In  my  own  family  I  have  often 
heard  the  story  of  a  woman  servant  who  never  left 
the  village,  and  scarcely  left  the  house  of  the  doc- 
tor whom  she  served,  and  who,  after  sixty-four  years 
of  continuous  service,  devised  in  her  last  will  and 
testament  the  entire  sum  of  her  saving  to  her  em- 
ployer! Since  I  never  remember  to  have  heard 
this  story  told  with  any  other  sentiment  than  that 
of  the  utmost  pride  and  satisfaction,  I  must  con- 
clude that  most  of  us  are  more  interested  in  getting 
ourselves  well  served  than  we  are  in  seeing  that  the 
rare  qualities,  such  as  this  faithful  woman  un- 
doubtedly possessed,  shall  continue  to  appear  in  our 
race.  Yet  we  complain  that  such  qualities  are  be- 
coming rare ! 

The  two  persons  most  directly  concerned  in  solv- 
ing the  servant  problem  are  the  mistress  and  the 


THE  FAMILY  AND  THE  SERVANT     275 

maid;  but  their  respective  views  of  how  it  is  to  be 
solved  are  diametrically  opposite.  The  mistress^  in 
most  cases,  would  solve  it  by  having  provided  for 
her,  somehow,  a  plentiful  supply  of  trained  serv- 
ants at  low  wages.  The  servant's  solution,  in  so 
far  as  she  has  any,  is,  as  far  as  she  can,  to  abolish 
servants  altogether  by  choosing  some  other  call- 
ing, and  her  solution  at  present  seems  the  more 
likely  to  be  realised.  Indeed,  unless  some  radical, 
social  change  shall  intervene,  the  mistress'  solution 
has  little  prospect  of  success.  The  close  of  the 
war  will  see  a  rush  of  surplus  women  from  Europe 
into  the  wage-earning  classes  and  some  of  them  will 
undoubtedly  enter  service.  But  the  psychological 
factors  now  at  work  which  lead  women  to  prefer 
almost  any  other  occupation  to  domestic  service  will 
continue  In  force  and  the  main  stream  of  women- 
workers  will  flow,  perhaps  in  increasing  volume,  to- 
ward workshop,  office  and  factory,  avoiding  the 
home.  Perversity?  False  pride?  Well,  perhaps; 
nevertheless  there  Is  the  fact!  Despite  the  higher 
wages  paid  in  domestic  service,  an  Increasing  num- 
ber of  women,  forced  to  seek  their  own  livelihood, 
will  face  almost  starvation  rather  than  serve  other 
women  In  their  homes. 

The  shop  offers  free  evenings  and  Sundays, 
definite  hours,  the  single,  specified  task,  the  bustle 
and  companionship  of  other  workers,  the  hope  of 
adventure,  the  supposedly  better  matrimonial  out- 
look In  a  position  where  she  can  see  and  be  seen. 


276  FEMINISM 

These  are  among  the  reasons  commonly  adduced 
for  this  persistent  tendency.  But  no  explanation 
which  leaves  out  of  account  the  peculiar  and  mys- 
terious stigma  which  attaches  to  the  calling  of  serv- 
ant, suffices.  The  stigma  is  more  drastic  in  Amer- 
ica than  in  Europe,  because  in  the  old  world  peo- 
ple are  still  bound  by  the  hmitations  of  their  class 
and  no  disgrace  attaches  to  fulfilling  a  destiny  which 
you  cannot  escape.  But  in  the  free  air  of  America 
none  are  supposed  to  follow  a  calling  or  remain  in 
a  position  which  does  not  suit  them.  Hence,  Amer- 
ican girls  in  only  rare  instances  will  enter  domes- 
tic service  and  for  the  upkeep  of  homes  America  is 
almost  wholly  dependent  upon  the  daughters  of  for- 
eign countries. 

The  stigma  attaching  to  the  servant's  calling  Is 
not  due  to  the  unpleasantness  of  her  tasks,  since  the 
trained  nurse  performs  services  quite  as  disagree- 
able. It  is  not  because  housework  is  hard;  since 
many  forms  of  labour  outside,  in  factories  and 
slaughter  houses  and  mines,  is  harder.  It  is  not  be- 
cause it  is  unskilled,  since  the  finer  departments  of 
housework  demand  considerable  skill.  It  is  not  be- 
cause the  servant  "lives  out"  and  has-  no  home  of 
her  own,  since  the  governess  and  the  trained  nurse 
are  similarly  placed,  without  loss  of  prestige.  It 
is  not  because  the  servant  is  unorganised,  since  the 
stigma  began  its  pursuit  of  her  before  trade  unions 
were  heard  of.  It  is  not  because  she  is  "  bossed," 
since  the  condition  of  being  bossed,  criticised  and 


THE  FAMILY  AND  THE  SERVANT     277 

found  fault  with  is  the  lot  of  all  who  work  under 
others  and  the  chance  of  being  fired  is  the  correla- 
tive of  being  hired.  It  is  not  because  the  servant 
is  ill  paid  or  ill-treated,  since,  despite  continuously 
rising  pay  and  more  considerate  treatment,  the 
stigma  continues  to  follow  her. 

It  Is  true  that  the  very  rich  are  able  to  overcome 
the  stigma  by  paying  exorbitant  wages,  and  there- 
fore, there  is,  for  the  rich,  properly  no  servant  prob- 
lem. They  can  have  whatever  they  choose  to  pay 
for  and  they  will  pay  for  anything  they  want. 
Whether  they  choose  imported  lackeys,  or  oriental 
coolies,  or  mechanical  automatons,  or  trained  mon- 
keys, need  not  concern  us.  Their  problem  is  their 
own  and  they  are  quite  able  to  solve  it.  What  the 
Interests  of  humanity  demand  are  not  that  the  idle 
and  luxurious  may  be  provided  with  the  means  of 
being  more  idle  and  more  luxurious,  but  that  women 
in  the  home  who  are  engaged  in  performing  valuable 
services,  which  are  beyond  their  unaided  strength 
to  perform,  shall  be  furnished  the  necessary  assist- 
ance. 

The  upkeep  of  happy  and  fruitful  homes  Is  an 
Invaluable  service  and  If,  as  It  may  appear.  It  Is  one 
which  makes  too  many  exactions  upon  one  woman, 
then  It  Is  extremely  desirable  that.  In  a  well-organ- 
ised society,  help  shall  be  provided  her.  Under 
present  conditions,  many  homes  are  falling  to  pieces 
because  the  mothers  In  charge  of  them  are  them- 
selves Ill-trained,  and  because  of  this,  together  with 


278  FEMINISM 

the  fact  that  their  task  is  beyond  their  strength,  can- 
not fulfil  their  function  properly.  Help  is  needed 
to  maintain  these  homes,  but  it  is  not  forthcoming 
because  in  some  there  are  not  the  means  to  pay 
for  help,  and  in  others,  where  the  means  are  pres- 
ent, the  help  cannot  be  had.  In  a  nutshell  this  is 
the  servant  problem:  how  to  make  available  good 
help  for  those  families  who  need  it,  and  should 
have  It. 

The  solutions  of  the  servant  problem  now  of- 
fered are  mainly  three:  first,  abolish  servants  alto- 
gether; second,  kind  treatment,  higher  wages  and  the 
like,  with  a  view  of  attracting  larger  numbers  to  the 
calling;  third,  replacing  servants  by  trained  workers 
who  live  at  home. 

To  persons  of  refinement  the  first  solution  is  es- 
pecially attractive  and  many  ingenious  efforts  are  be- 
ing made  by  desperate  women  to  establish  a  self- 
respecting  independence  of  servants.  Sometimes  the 
family  moves  Into  smaller  quarters;  flats  and  deli- 
catessen stores,  the  janitor,  the  telephone,  the 
dumb  waiter,  the  steam-heated  apartment,  the  free 
hot  water,  reduce  housework  to  the  capacity  of  a 
single  pair  of  hands.  More  luxurious  families 
adopt  labour-saving  machinery  and  hired  cleaners; 
they  also  enlist  the  co-operation  of  the  members  of 
the  family  and  so  forth.  One  hears  of  a  thirty- 
five  thousand  dollar  country  house  in  the  Catskills, 
constructed  throughout  with  the  view  of  ellminat- 


THE  FAMILY  AND  THE  SERVANT     279 

ing  the  necessity  of  servants,  and  there  Is  no  doubt 
that  if  an  Inventor  of  self-cleaning,  self-running 
domiciles  for  human  beings  should  appear  a  fortune 
awaits  him.  More  Immediately  available  are,  how- 
ever, the  estimable  efforts  of  some  Intelligent  women 
to  perfect  and  set  forth  new  methods  of  "  scien- 
tific housekeeping  "  whereby  woman,  though  bound, 
may  yet  be  free.  It  Is  to  be  achieved  by  the  exer- 
cise of  "  system,''  "  planning,"  "  measured  move- 
ments," "  records "  and  the  like.  There  is  very 
much  that  Is  admirable  In  these  teachings;  and,  if 
women  were  more  widely  trained  In  really  scientific 
housekeeping,  there  would  be  many  more  happy 
homes  and  more  light-hearted  women.  The  matter 
Is  not,  however,  as  easy  as  It  appears  In  the  fluent 
books  upon  the  subject.  The  aim  is  to  apply  to  the 
home  the  efficiency  methods  which  have  accom- 
plished so  much  In  office  and  factory;  the  theory  con- 
siders the  home  as  a  factory.  But  the  home  is  not 
a  factory  and  methods  which  are  very  rigid  and 
exact  cannot  well  be  applied  to  it,  or.  If  they  were 
so  applied,  might  endanger  Its  most  precious  char- 
acteristics. The  home  is  not  a  favourable  field  for 
the  application  of  efficiency  methods,  because  it  Is 
precisely  the  place  to  which  men  turn  to  escape 
from  too  much  efficiency.  The  trouble  with  all 
machinery,  no  matter  how  perfect,  Is  that  the  whole 
is  dependent  upon  the  smooth  working  of  all  the 
parts,  and  a  home  which  has  so  far  lost  Its  nor- 


28o  FEMINISM 

mal  flexibility  that  any  little  irregularity  will  throw 
out  the  entire  day's  schedule,  shatter  the  household 
equanimity  and  reduce  the  house  mother  to  desper- 
ation, has  lost  as  much  as  it  has  gained  by  scientific 
management.  Moreover,  to  replace  servants  by 
elaborate  electric  machinery,  beside  being  beyond 
the  reach  of  most  women  to  install,  is  beyond  the 
ability  of  more  to  operate.  A  dinner  of  ten  cov- 
ers, such  as  Mrs.  Pattison  describes  herself  as  cook- 
ing and  serving,  alone  and  unaided,  while  still  pre- 
serving all  the  nonchalance  of  a  care-free,  chef- 
served  hostess,  requires  a  truly  Napoleonic  grasp  of 
intellect,  united  to  an  Edisonian  grasp  of  electric  ma- 
chinery. 

The  most  beneficial  feature  of  the  effort  to  dis- 
pense with  servants  is  that  it  leads  to  a  simplifica- 
tion of  existence  and  the  attempt  to  strip  life  of 
some  of  its  superfluous  burdens  —  a  lesson  we  can- 
not learn  too  soon  nor  too  often.  But,  however 
certain  persons  may  dally  with  the  idea  that  the 
ideal  solution  of  the  servant  question  is  to  get  rid 
of  servants,  that  is  not  the  ideal  commonly  held. 
The  general  intention  in  the  mind  of  most  families 
is  to  secure  a  servant  as  soon  as  they  can  afford 
one.  Thousands  of  women,  who  congratulate  them- 
selves in  after  life,  as  does  the  author  of  "  The  Long 
Day,"  that  no  matter  how  hard  they  were  pushed, 
out  of  work  and  starving,  in  their  girlhood,  they 
still  never  sank  so  low  as  to  accept  domestic  service 
—  still  the  moment  they  have  climbed  the  ladder  to 


THE  FAMILY  AND  THE  SERVANT     281 

a  competence  hasten  to  find  some  other  girl  willing 
to  "  sink  so  low  "  as  to  serve  them. 

The  "  servant/'  strictly  speaking,  is  bound  in  time 
to  be  abolished,  indeed  is  now  engaged  in  abolish- 
ing herself.  Before  many  decades  she  is  likely  to 
survive  only  in  the  famihes  of  millionaires,  and  the 
maintenance  of  servants  will  be  the  unmistakable 
evidence  of  vast  opulence.  They  will  be  very  rare 
and  precious,  very  well-trained  and  very  expensive. 
In  the  families  of  the  masses  of  the  people  there 
will  be  no  servants,  the  girls  and  women  previously 
so  employed  having  all  passed  into  the  office,  the 
workshop,  the  store,  the  factory.  Such  a  state  of 
things,  sure  to  be  hailed  as  progress  by  feminists, 
because  it  deals  another  blow  at  the  family,  and  se- 
cures economic  independence  for  more  women,  is  not 
to  be  welcomed  by  humanists. 

In  our  view  the  family  is  the  corner-stone  of  so- 
ciety, and  measures  which  render  it  more  sure,  not 
those  which  join  with  the  forces  that  threaten  it, 
are  to  be  advocated.  The  family  needs  not  less 
help  but  more;  and  while  we  willingly  see  the  insti- 
tution of  servantry  depart  to  keep  company  with 
those  of  slavery  and  vassalage  which  preceded  it, 
still  we  recognise  that  the  upkeep  of  the  nation's 
families  is  too  important  a  work  to  be  left  to  fall 
into  neglect,  and,  since  where  there  are  children  or 
aged  people  or  invalids  it  cannot  be  properly  done 
by  one  woman  alone,  there  should  be  some  means  of 
providing  her  with  help,  according  to  her  needs. 


282  FEMINISM 

We  consent  to  the  abolition  of  servants;  but  we  in- 
sist that  some  form  of  domestic  helpers  must  still  be 
available. 

The  favourite  solution  of  the  problem  now  cur- 
rent is  that  of  establishing  professional  housework- 
ers  to  come  to  one's  house  by  the  day  or  by  the 
hour  and  vanish  as  does  the  plumber  or  the  gas 
man  when  their  work  is  done.  Although  this  plan 
has  been  hopefully  discussed  for  the  past  twenty 
years  it  seems  no  nearer  realisation.  The  highly 
trained  college  graduate,  who,  we  were  told,  would 
appear  at  one's  door  every  morning,  do  up  the  work 
as  by  magic  and  vanish  as  a  fairy  at  fall  of  day, 
is  a  being  who  exists,  as  far  as  I  know,  only  in  the 
pages  of  lady  sociologists,  who  periodically  produce 
books  about  her.  Yet  every  one  favours  this  solu- 
tion; all  hope  for  it;  most  people  seem  confidently 
to  anticipate  it. 

In  some  of  the  larger  cities,  it  is  true,  the  cus- 
tom is  already  common  for  negro  women  to  work 
in  this  way.  They  have  no  objection  to  being  out 
late  and  the  plantation  tradition,  under  which  the 
darkles  retired  to  their  own  quarters  at  nightfall  to 
sleep  with  their  own  people,  still  lingers.  The  prac- 
tice is  not,  however,  favoured  by  young  white  girls. 
If  they  are  to  live  at  home  and  work  out  they  much 
prefer  shop  or  factory,  which  closes  promptly  at  six, 
so  that  they  can  count  exactly  upon  their  homecom- 
ing. 

As  for  the  highly  trained,  graduated,  home-eco- 


THE  FAMILY  AND  THE  SERVANT     283 

nomics  demonstrator,  who  was  once  promised  us, 
she  has  never  appeared  in  the  flesh,  her  energies 
having  been  invariably  enlisted,  it  seems,  not  in  run- 
ning our  homes  for  us  as  she  has  been  instructed 
so  efficiently  how  to  do,  but  in  teaching  others  how 
—  to  teach!  It  is  true  that  for  a  special  occasion 
expert  caterers  can  always  be  had  at  the  command 
of  a  long  purse,  but  these  awesome  creatures  are 
quite  out  of  reach  for  performing  the  prosaic  grind 
of  daily  household  tasks. 

The  chief  obstacle  to  converting  housework  into 
a  day's  work  task  is  that  the  life  of  the  home,  in- 
stead of  shutting  down  at  six  p.m.,  as  outside  work 
does,  intensifies  at  precisely  that  hour.  All  the 
scattered  members  of  the  family  come  wandering 
hungrily  home,  and  any  person  who  must  serve  at 
this  office  has  her  evening  spoiled,  a  fact  which 
weighs  heavily  in  the  competition  which  goes  on  be- 
tween the  home  and  the  factory  for  the  young  girl's 
work.  The  only  class  of  young  girls  to  whom  this 
is  not  a  disadvantage  is  the  homeless  immigrant. 
To  her,  a  sheltered  spot  in  a  strange  land  where  she 
can  both  live  and  work  is  highly  desirable,  for  to 
go  home  after  work  means  to  her  only  to  creep  into 
a  desolate  room  somewhere,  empty  and  cold  and  bear- 
ing no  resemblance  to  a  home  in  any  way.  There- 
fore it  is  the  raw  immigrant  girl,  alone,  who  flocks 
plentifully  into  domestic  service  and  more  and  more 
It  is  she,  raw,  stupid,  and  untaught,  who  is  the  over- 
burdened housemother's  only  prop  and  hope. 


284  FEMINISM 

The  remedy  of  kind  treatment  which  it  was  hoped 
would  call  more  and  better  women  into  the  service 
is  only  partially  successful,  as  we  see  when  we  re- 
member that,  in  spite  of  it,  the  tide  flows  increas- 
ingly into  the  shops.  Thus  all  of  the  remedies  com- 
monly proposed  offer  little  promise  of  rehef. 

And  yet  not  only  is  it  not  desirable,  in  the  inter- 
ests of  the  nation's  homes,  that  they  should  be  poorly 
manned  and  equipped  by  the  abandonment  of  help- 
ers; but  it  is  necessary  that  many  more  famiHes  than 
are  now  receiving  help  should  receive  it.  Thou- 
sands of  the  nation's  mothers,  engaged  in  a  most 
important  work,  are  sadly  overburdened.  They 
should  be  given  all  the  help  necessary  to  their  task. 

At  the  same  time  there  are  constantly  arising 
troops  of  young  daughters,  whose  work  is  not  needed 
in  their  own  families,  and  who  should  enter  upon 
a  period  of  self-support  previous  to  marriage.  The 
most  desirable  arrangement  imaginable  would  be 
that  they  should  be  able  to  support  themselves, 
while  at  the  same  time  perfecting  themselves  in  a 
caUing  which  will  assist  them  in  their  ultimate  serv- 
ice as  homemakers.  No  other  work  is  so  well  suited 
^or  this  double  purpose  as  domestic  service.  How 
^htn  can  we  remove  the  stigma  which  now  attaches 
to  that  service,  and  open  it  freely  to  future  home- 
makers?  How  can  we  make  it  compete  successfully 
against  its  dangerous  rivals  —  the  workshop,  office 
and  factory?  If  we  can  do  so  it  will  be  better  for 
the  girls,  it  will  be  better  for  the  homes,  it  will  be 


THE  FAMILY  AND  THE  SERVANT     285 

better  for  the  mothers,  It  will  be  better  for  the  na- 
tion and  better  for  the  race. 

How  shall  we  deflect  the  tide  of  young  working 
girls  away  from  shops  and  Into  homes?  How  shall 
we  bring  them  into  the  service  of  the  nation's  moth- 
ers ?  How  shall  we  adapt  them  to  the  requirements 
of  housemothers  and  adapt  housemothers  to  their 
requirements  so  that  they  will  like  each  other  and 
work  harmoniously  together?  We  wish  to  utilise 
a  large  fund  of  unused  motherllness  on  the  part  of 
capable  women,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  a  fund  of 
wasted  daughterliness  of  good  young  girls,  now  lost 
In  the  grind  of  business.  These  girls  and  these 
women  should  be  brought  together  In  quasi-i^mily 
groups  to  occupy  toward  each  other  the  relationship, 
partly  of  teacher  and  pupil,  partly  of  mother  and 
daughter.  All  families  containing  young  children 
need  help  and  this  should  be  rendered  by  the  na- 
tion's unattached  women  —  the  young  maids,  spin- 
sters, .elderly  women.  In  the  coming  struggle  for 
supremacy  among  nations  that  race  has  a  better 
chance  to  prevail  which  utilises  to  best  advantage 
the  energies  of  its  women  —  young  and  old.  When 
this  Is  understood,  young  women  may  pledge  them- 
selves to  the  service  of  the  home  as  young  men  now 
rush  to  the  colours.  This  kind  of  preparedness  Is 
very  necessary,  and  universal  conscription,  by  which 
all  young  girls  who  do  not  fall  below  the  standard 
should  be  required  to  serve  their  time  In  household 
service,  would  be  eminently  desirable. 


286  FEMINISM 

The  writer  offers  the  following  suggestions  look- 
ing toward  a  possible  solution  of  the  domestic  prob- 
lem. The  plan  keeps  consistently  in  view  the  bene- 
fits to  the  race  which,  in  our  judgment,  are  bound  up 
with  the  continued  maintenance  of  the  family;  and  it 
advocates  a  deliberate  pohcy  of  domestication  as 
against  the  commercialisation  of  young  women. 
The  foundation  for  such  a  scheme  must  be  laid  in 
educating  girls  for  the  home  rather  than  for  the  mar- 
ket-place. Up  to  the  age  of  twelve,  a  girl  should 
be  given  the  usual  rudiments  of  general  education; 
i.e.,  they  should  be  taught  to  read  and  write  and 
spell  and  to  speak  pure  English  (far  more  attention 
being  given  to  this  matter  than  is  now  the  custom). 
In  addition,  they  are  naturally  given  an  idea  of  the 
geography  of  their  own  country,  and,  more  gener- 
ally, of  the  rest  of  the  earth,  together  with  an  out- 
line of  history.  But  at  twelve  years  of  age  their 
education  should  take  a  definite  turn,  and,  during 
the  next  four  to  six  years,  it  should  move  steadily 
in  the  direction  of  the  domestic  arts.  With  these 
as  a  solid  foundation  should  be  combined  abundant 
physical  exercise,  especially  dancing,  and  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  love  of  beauty  through  art,  music,  litera- 
ture and  the  like. 

After  the  age  of  sixteen  or  eighteen  those  girls 
—  and  they  are  very  few  —  who  have  demonstrated 
a  real  and  genuine  thirst  for  abstract  knowledge 
could  return  to  the  pursuit  of  "  book  learning  "  and 
pass  on  to  the  upper  reaches  of  "  higher  education." 


THE  FAMILY  AND  THE  SERVANT     287 

The  average  girl,  however,  pursues  further  the  line 
of  domestication.  This  she  may  do  by  perfecting 
her  knowledge  of  some  of  the  domestic  arts  or  else, 
if  it  is  necessary  for  her  to  become,  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible, self-supporting,  she  enters  at  once  into  a  period 
of  apprenticeship  as  a  co-operative  houseworker  in 
a  selected  home. 

In  the  first  instance  she  may  become  an  expert 
cook  or  milliner,  or  dancer  or  singer,  developing 
these  activities  purely  as  personal  accomplishments, 
to  enhance  her  personal  value  in  the  home,  not,  as 
yet,  with  a  view  of  selling  them  in  the  market-place. 
In  the  second  instance  the  girl  passes  into  a  home 
where  she  will  be  given  the  opportunity  to  put  in 
practice  the  knowledge  of  the  domestic  arts  in  which 
she  has  been  trained.  Here  we  approach  the  do- 
mestic help  problem  from  a  new  angle. 

This  public  school  girl  enters  family  service  not  as 
a  servant  but  as  a  co-operative  worker.  Her 
status  in  the  family  is  that  of  the  apprentice  who 
used  to  enter  his  master's  family  for  a  twofold  pur- 
pose —  to  perfect  himself  in  his  craft  under  the  eye 
of  a  master,  and  at  the  same  time  to  render  assist- 
ance to  his  master  while  so  engaged.  Some  one  has 
recently  written  of  the  college  that  "  the  college  will 
never  really  get  the  undergraduate  until  it  trans- 
forms itself  into  a  sort  of  intellectual  workshop  in 
which  young  men  can  serve  an  apprenticeship  under 
the  masters  of  their  day."  The  same  may  be  said 
of  the  home.     It  will  not  secure  the  high-souled,  dis- 


.288  FEMINISM 

interested  service  of  maidens,  which  for  its  own  good 
and  theirs,  it  should  command,  until  their  relation 
to  their  work  is  so  transformed  that  it  comes  to  be 
regarded  by  them  as  a  period  of  apprenticeship  to 
a  higher  vocation.  The  status  of  such  an  ap- 
prentice is  no  more  that  of  the  servant,  than  the 
status  of  a  patriotic  soldier  resembles  that  of  a  hired 
mercenary. 

The  entrance  of  the  girl  into  a  refined  home  as 
apprentice  causes  no  jar  to  the  family  because  she 
has  been  specially  trained  for  it,  having  received  the 
teaching  and  the  discipline  to  make  her  not  only  an 
efficient  house  worker,  but  an  agreeable  home  com- 
panion. Not  only  does  she  know  how  to  cook  and 
sew  and  clean  and  make  beds  and  set  a  table,  and 
understand  how  to  take  care  of  a  baby  and  the  ele- 
ments of  sick  nursing,  but  she  has  been  drilled  in 
the  use  of  pure  English  and  clear  enunciation;  she 
has  been  trained  in  dainty  care  of  her  person,  from 
the  taking  of  a  daily  bath  to  the  properly  dressed 
hair  and  polished  nails;  she  has  been  made  to  ex- 
perience the  benefits  of  fresh  air,  exercise,  plain  food, 
plenty  of  sleep,  both  in  their  effects  upon  her  com- 
plexion and  her  temper  as  well  as  her  general  health. 
She  has  been  made  to  understand  that  an  obliga- 
tion which  society  entails  upon  her  is  to  keep  her- 
self in  blooming  condition.  She  has  been  fitted  in 
every  way  to  take  her  place,  modestly,  but  with  dig- 
nity, as  an  "  apprentice  daughter  "  in  the  household 
of  a  woman  of  refinement* 


THE  FAMILY  AND  THE  SERVANT     289 

She  does  not  enter  her  vocation  for  the  money 
there  is  in  it,  any  more  than  does  the  soldier  or  the 
Red  Cross  nurse.  Her  wage  is  nominal;  probably 
about  the  size  of  an  allowance  which  a  mother  might 
give  her  daughter  to  buy  her  clothes  and  little  pleas- 
ures. The  goal  of  the  apprentice-daughter  is  not 
to  accumulate  wages  but  to  accumulate  useful  ex- 
perience, and  to  perfect  herself  in  all  the  accomplish- 
ments which  she  hopes  to  use,  herself,  as  wife  and 
mother,  when  she  comes  to  preside  over  her  own 
home,  and  in  turn  to  be  mother  and  guide  to  other 
apprentices. 

That  marriage  is  her  aim  and  goal  should  be 
frankly  recognised  by  her  and  by  society.  She 
should  believe  that  it  is  not  honest  ever  to  deny 
this  or  to  conceal  it.  She  should  never  be  ashamed 
of  it  or  permit  any  one  to  make  her  ashamed  of 
it.  As  every  one  knows  what  her  aim  is,  no  hin- 
drances are  to  be  put  in  her  way;  on  the  contrary 
every  facility,  within  propriety,  must  be  provided  to 
enable  her  to  realise  her  woman's  destiny.  To  join 
hands  with  a  worthy  mate  and  with  him  raise  a  fine 
family  seems  to  her  more  suitable  as  a  life  motive 
than  to  secure  by  haggard  efforts  a  big  salary  under 
barren  spinsterhood. 

The  ornamental  side  of  her  nature  has  not  been 
neglected,  for  she  is  to  be  not  only  a  houseworker 
but  a  homemate  and  qomrade.  Her  mind  has  been 
stored  with  games  and  fairy  tales,  folk  songs,  poetry 
and  romance.     Some  day  she  is  to  be  the  life  of  the 


290  FEMINISM 

nursery.  She  can  sing  a  merry  song,  join  in  a  col- 
lege glee  and  dance  like  a  fairy.  She  can  sketch, 
she  can  swim,  she  can  walk;  she  knows  birds,  and 
trees  and  flowers.  She  can  make  her  own  dresses 
and  trim  her  own  hats  and  has  been  taught  the  charm 
of  simphcity  and  cleanliness.  She  can  embroider 
and  knit  all  sorts;  she  can  keep  accounts;  she  has 
been  taught  order  and  system,  how  to  economise 
and  manage ;  how  to  buy,  and  how  not  to  buy. 

Her  position  in  the  household  resembles  that  of 
a  young  physician  serving  as  interne  in  a  hospital. 
She  aims  to  perfect  herself  in  her  calling  by  con- 
tinual practice  under  the  direction  and  criticism  of 
experts.  The  glory  of  the  goal  illumines  the  noviti- 
ate like  that  of  the  nun.  There  is  no  stigma  follow- 
ing such  a  career,  no  matter  how  menial  the  task 
performed,  any  more  than  there  is  with  regard  to  the 
nun  or  the  nurse  or  the  medical  student  serving  his 
time  as  an  interne. 

If  it  is  necessary  to  the  success  of  such  a  scheme 
that  the  apprentice  shall  have  been  trained,  it  is  no 
less  essential  that  the  mother-matron  shall  have  been 
fitted  for  her  function.  Only  matrons  who  had 
themselves  been  thoroughly  trained  in  the  principle 
and  practice  of  domestic  art  would  be  eligible  to  re- 
ceive the  services  of  the  apprentice-daughters. 

Both  matrons  and  daughters  should  be  members 
of  an  organisation  —  called  the  Guild  or  Co-opera- 
tive Homemakers,  or  something  of  the  sort  — 
which  should  be  under  the  auspices  of  the  state  edu- 


THE  FAMILY  AND  THE  SERVANT     291 

catlonal  system.  It  would  establish  in  connection 
with  the  public  schools  a  placing  bureau.  (There  is 
already  a  placing  secretary  attached  to  the  vocational 
schools  of  New  York  City.)  The  finest  young  girls 
graduating  from  the  public  schools  after  from  four 
to  six  years  of  training  in  the  domestic  arts  would 
be  placed  in  selected  families  whose  matrons  had 
themselves  passed  the  required  tests  and  examina- 
tions. 

The  standards  of  household  management  vary 
from  house  to  house;  but  there  is  no  reason,  when 
the  subject  is  better  understood,  why  households 
should  not  be  standardised  and  classified  according 
to  the  standard  adopted.  Roughly  speaking,  house- 
holds might  be  graded  in  three  grades.  The  first 
grade  might  follow  the  standard  maintained  by  the 
best  hotels  and  the  households  of  millionaires. 
Among  its  items  are  perfect  order  and  cleanliness 
from  garret  to  cellar;  bed  linen  changed  each  morn- 
ing, table  linen  at  each  meal;  "made  dishes"  ex- 
clusively, served;  all  window  sills  cleaned  daily, 
clothing  brushed,  shoes  blacked,  beds  opened,  baths 
drawn,  tubs  polished,  glass  and  silver  always  like 
new,  and  so  forth.  The  second  grade  falls  consid- 
erably short  of  this  concert  pitch  while  not  falling 
below  the  health  line.  A  third  grade  might  repre- 
sent a  still  further  slackening  from  the  highest  stand- 
ard. 

A  household  interne  should  have  experience  of  all 
the  grades  and  be  able  to  discriminate  between  them. 


292  FEMINISM 

The  higher  the  standard  set  in  any  establishment  the 
larger  the  number  of  internes  necessary  to  maintain 
the  standard,  and  the  larger  the  opportunity  to  make 
acquaintance  and  friendship  among  co-workers.  In 
order  to  gain  variety  of  experience  it  would  be  de- 
sirable that  young  internes  should  not  remain  more 
than  two  or  three  years  in  one  place.  After  they 
have  learned  what  one  household  has  to  teach,  then, 
provided  they  have  not  yet  met  their  future  hus- 
band, they  should  move  on  in  search  of  pastures 
new,  domestic  and  matrimonial.  In  these  various 
positions  a  young  woman  would  secure  not  only 
varied  practical  experience  but  could  learn  much  of 
proper  family  relations  —  how  best  to  secure  family 
harmony  and  sweeten  family  intercourse.  A  wise 
httle  girl,  who  kept  her  eyes  open  and  her  mind 
awake,  might  thus  arrive  at  some  very  shrewd  con- 
clusions as  to  what  kind  of  a  man  NOT  to  marry,  and 
what  kind  of  a  wife  not  to  be. 

As  for  the  guild  matrons,  not  only  would  they 
have  to  have  won  certificates  of  proficiency  before 
they  would  be  entitled  to  the  services  of  the  Guild 
of  Internes,  but  the  households  of  the  guild  matrons 
would  be  subject  to  periodical  inspection  by  expert 
officers  of  the  Guild,  in  order  to  determine  whether 
the  standard  adopted  by  the  household  were  being 
maintained  and  whether  either  the  matron  or  the 
apprentice-daughters  were  falling  behind  and  needed 
"  jacking  up.''  This  feature  of  the  scheme  is  ren- 
dered necessary  by  the  incorrigible  human  propen- 


THE  FAMILY  AND  THE  SERVANT     293 

sity  to  slump ;  but  far  from  being  regarded  as  an  In- 
trusion, it  would,  I  believe,  be  earnestly  welcomed 
by  matrons  who  take  their  functions  seriously. 
This  is  especially  the  case  if  the  inspection  covers,  as 
it  should,  health  and  hygiene  and  the  general  family 
conditions.  There  is  scarcely  a  family  in  any  class 
but  would  benefit  by  periodical  visits  and  inspection 
of  its  conditions  by  experts. 

To  belong  to  the  Guild  of  Matrons  would  be  an 
honour  to  any  woman  and  more  to  be  desired  —  ex- 
cept for  money-making  purposes  —  than  a  college 
degree.  Aside  from  Its  practical  advantage  it  would 
enable  a  superior  woman  to  practise  a  species  of 
maternity  extension,  by  exercising  motherly  helpful- 
ness over  a  wider  area  than  that  covered  by  her  im- 
mediate family.  Her  position  would  be  that  of 
head  mistress  in  a  school,  or  head  nurse  in  a  nurses' 
training  school,  or  head  physician  in  a  hospital. 
Although  she  may  have  little  work  to  do,  and  lit- 
tle actual  teaching,  her  duties  of  inspection,  plan- 
ning, criticising  and  directing  are  unremitting.  She 
is  the  conductor  of  the  household  orchestra;  she 
must  understand  all  the  instruments,  even  if  she  do 
not  play  them,  and  upon  her  devolve  leadership,  ex- 
ample and  responsibility.  She  and  her  apprentice- 
daughters  have  an  object  in  common  —  the  perfect- 
ing of  the  American  home  and  the  future  improve- 
ment of  the  American  nation.  The  matron  Is  not 
to  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  her  charges  are  not 
there  to  minister  to  her  indolence,  but  to  prepare 


294  FEMINISM 

themselves,  under  her  guidance,  for  their  own  ca- 
reers as  wives  and  mothers,  and  they  must  be  con- 
sistently assisted  to  attain  this  end. 

Let  us  picture  to  ourselves  a  typical  case.  Mrs. 
A.  is  a  woman  of  forty;  her  family  consists  of  her 
husband  and  herself  with  their  four  children  and 
her  husband's  mother.  Mrs.  A.  is  a  finely  dis- 
ciplined character,  kindly  and  capable,  an  excellent 
housekeeper,  an  admirable  wife  and  mother.  She 
has  for  years  been  struggling  hopelessly  with  the 
servant  problem.  Her  own  standards  have  been 
continuously  rising  as  she  gained  knowledge  and  ex- 
perience and  came  to  see  how  things  ought  to  be 
done.  But  her  task  grew  harder  instead  of  easier  as 
she  was  forced  to  depend  upon  a  constantly  deterio- 
rating class  of  domestics. 

Mrs.  A.  has  passed  her  examinations  and  is  a 
member  of  the  Guild.  After  consultation  she  has 
decided  that  the  third  grade  standard  of  housekeep- 
ing is  all  that  she  can  at  present  maintain,  so  far 
have  things  fallen  behind  under  the  ruinous  regime 
she  has  been  struggling  under.  To  maintain  this 
standard,  given  the  size  of  her  house  and  the  fam- 
ily requirement,  four  internes  will  be  needed.  Ac- 
cordingly one  day  there  are  brought  to  Mrs.  A.'s 
house  to  take  the  place  of  the  two  stupid,  ignorant, 
slatternly,  pilfering,  lazy,  deceitful,  quarrelsome  In- 
competents whom  the  family  finances  have  hitherto 
placed  in  successive  pairs  at  her  disposal  —  four 
bright,    healthy,    dainty,    rosy,    merry   girls,    fresh 


THE  FAMILY  AND  THE  SERVANT     295 

from  the  public  schools  where  they  have  been  fol- 
lowing, from  four  to  six  years,  thorough  courses  in 
the  most  approved  methods  of  advanced  housekeep- 
ing. They  are  neat,  orderly,  handy,  quick,  cheer- 
ful, and  tickled  to  death  with  their  new  surround- 
ings, their  chance  to  work  together,  the  prospect 
of  practising  what  they  have  learned,  and  the 
opening  up  of  the  woman's  period  in  their  career. 
As  they  have  been  trained  to  system  and  despatch, 
to  have  a  place  for  everything  and  to  keep  every- 
thing in  its  place ;  as  they  are  young  and  lively,  and 
as  there  are  twice  as  many  hands  now  as  formerly, 
the  household  tasks  are  accomplished  in  far  less 
time.  Therefore  their  actual  working  hours  are 
shortened  and  time  is  set  free  for  the  upkeep  of 
their  health  and  personal  attractiveness.  They  are 
also  required  to  spend  a  certain  time  each  day  in 
reading  and  in  cultivating  any  little  craft  or  accom- 
plishment —  such  as  embroidery,  knitting,  singing, 
dancing,  which  they  may  have  begun  at  school.  At 
the  guild  headquarters  they  will  receive  instruction 
in  continuation  classes  so  that  they  will  not  be 
allowed  to  suppose  that  their  education  in  any 
respect  has  come  to  an  end.  To  the  Guild,  more- 
over, both  matron  and  apprentice  will  make  regular 
reports,  stating  any  cause  of  complaint  or  dissatis- 
faction. 

At  the  guild  hall  there  would  be  a  dancing  and 
music  room  with  a  little  stage  for  dramatic  per- 
formances.    Here  would  centre  the  social  life  of 


296  FEMINISM 

the  band  of  apprentice-daughters  of  the  town. 
Chaperoned  by  one  of  the  league  matrons  they 
would  meet  to  dance,  play  games,  sing,  prattle,  give 
little  plays,  hold  fairs,  and  "  bees,"  and  singing 
classes  and  otherwise  amuse  themselves  as  young 
girls  should.  Here,  too,  they  would  meet  their 
brothers  and  parents,  and  friends  and  lovers,  and 
here,  for  the  most  part,  would  ripen  the  friendships 
leading  to  their  own  marriage.  Out  of  four  appren- 
tices, two  could  be  free  in  the  evening  to  visit  their 
homes,  or  the  guild  hall  or  rest,  as  they  pleased. 
In  connection  with  the  Guild  a  fund  might  be  raised 
to  buy  wedding  presents  for  apprentices  and  chris- 
tening gifts  for  the  first  baby.  Sick  benefits  and 
insurance  would  probably  follow. 

Some  of  Mrs.  A.'s  apprentice-daughters  will  re- 
main under  her  roof  until  they  marry.  Some  will 
stay  only  a  year  or  two  and  then  journey  to  an- 
other town  in  search  of  fresh  adventures  and  new 
experiences,  just  as  the  old  guild  members  used  to 
do  in  their  wander-years.  Those  who,  after  a  suffi- 
cient time  has  passed,  abandon  the  Idea  of  marriage 
altogether  would  finally  separate  themselves  from 
the  band  of  apprentice-daughters  and  could  then  fit 
themselves  for  commercial  pursuits.  Only  when 
their  prime  service  to  humanity  seems  unlikely  ever 
to  be  fulfilled  will  society  willingly  consent  to  their 
giving  themselves  over  to  the  getting  and  saving  of 
money.  Some  of  them  will  find  employment  in 
teaching  in  the  public  and  guild  schools,  while  for 


THE  FAMILY  AND  THE  SERVANT     297 

others  vocational  schools  will  be  maintained  by  the 
State  to  fit  them  for  commercial  life. 

Under  such  a  scheme  Mrs.  A.,  as  we  have  seen, 
IS  able  to  enjoy  the  neat  and  cheerful  service  of  four 
young  trained  workers  for  the  same  outlay  which 
formerly  procured  her  two  poor  ones.  In  similar 
fashion  households  supporting  one  might  then  have 
two  and  households  which  now  have  none  might 
then  have  one.  But  large  numbers  of  working- 
class  women,  who  sorely  need  help,  would  still  be 
without  it.  How  are  we  to  meet  that  difficulty? 
The  only  answer  is  that,  should  the  time  ever  come 
when  the  improvement  of  the  human  race,  through 
its  more  careful  breeding  and  rearing  in  the  home, 
should  seem  to  be  the  most  important  work  into 
which  any  society  can  enter  —  then  we  might  hope 
that  a  gathering  spirit  of  service  (even  now  evi- 
dent in  the  volunteer  soldier,  the  nurse,  the  army 
surgeon,  the  sister  of  charity)  might  extend  to  this 
service  of  the  race,  in  the  home  —  a  cause  no  less 
worthy. 

Every  family  requires  at  some  period  outside 
help.  The  lowest  Italian  household  must  have  the 
service  of  the  midwife  occasionally.  In  nearly 
every  country  district  some  ignorant  but  foot-free 
old  woman  answers  the  call  to  help  wash  the  baby 
or  help  lay  out  the  corpse.  In  this  age-long  cus- 
tom lies  the  key  to  the  woman  question  and  inci- 
dentally to  the  servant  question.  Women  must  help 
each  other.     Their  toil  must  be  utilised,  not  to  the 


298  FEMINISM 

increasing  of  the  national  bank  account,  not  to  the 
enriching  of  capitalist  employers,  not  to  increasing 
their  own  expenditure  of  display,  but  for  the  bene- 
fit of  the  race,  in  the  service  of  women  and  chil- 
dren. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE   MORAL    USES    OF    HUSBANDS 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  when  man  and  woman 
are  drawn  together  by  affection  they  tend  to  de- 
velop in  each  other  opposite  qualities  —  the  man  be- 
coming more  manly  and  the  woman  more  womanly. 
But  when  they  approach  each  other  on  a  business 
basis,  occupying  a  neutral  zone,  then  they  tend  to 
become  more  alike,  equally  hard  and  determined. 
They  enter  a  competitive  struggle  in  which  there  is 
an  effort  to  Ignore  differences  of  sex,  but  in  which 
nevertheless  the  fact  of  sex  serves  but  to  embitter 
the  struggle. 

In  their  normal  relations  the  special  service  which 
woman  performs  toward  man  is  to  tame  him.  The 
service  he  performs  for  her  is  to  steady  her. 

If  it  were  not  for  woman's  taming  powers,  we 
should  lapse  into  savagery;  if  it  were  not  for  man's 
steadying  power,  society  would  approach  Bedlam. 
It  is  true  that  a  man  engaged  in  correcting  his  wife 
presents  a  most  odious  appearance.  He  is  looked 
upon  as  a  cad,  and  In  general  he  feels  himself  to 
be  one.  Therefore  men  have  withdrawn,  more  and 
more,  from  corrective  functions.  But  just  as  almost 
all  men  are  only  half-tamed  savages,  so  almost  all 
women  are  potentially  hysterics;  and  just  as  it  Is 

299 


300  FEMINISM 

true  that  the  disciplined  savage  makes  the  strongest 
man,  so  the  controlled  hysteric  gives  the  strongest, 
richest  woman  nature. 

The  effect  of  each  sex  when  they  are  normally  re- 
lated Is  to  strengthen  the  sex  characteristics  in  each 
and  then  mutually  to  help  each  other  to  control  them. 

Certainly  in  America  nothing  could  be  worse  for 
woman  than  the  course  pursued  by  many  men,  who 
neglect  their  womenkind  in  order  to  be  free  to  fol- 
low their  own  pursuit  of  wealth,  and  when  it  is  se- 
cured use  the  wealth  in  indulging  and  enervating 
their  womenkind.  The  nerve-chaos  which  results  in 
their  women  they  meet  with  more  indulgence,  more 
freedom  —  withholding  the  steadying  hand  which 
alone  can  save  them  from  themselves. 

I  remember  questioning  my  father,  a  physician, 
on  one  occasion  when  he  had  been  called  to  treat 
a  woman  in  hysterics.     What  had  he  done  for  her? 

With  the  grave,  stern,  half-sad  expression  which 
he  sometimes  wore,  he  answered,  "  I  made  her 
stop." 

I  used  sometimes  to  compare  my  lot  exultingly 
with  that  of  other  little  girls  and  their  extrava- 
gances. "  WeVe  got  a  man  in  our  family  who  can 
make  us  stop.'*  Although  we  did  not  need  the 
strong  hand,  it  was  always  there  and  we  knew  it 
could  be  counted  upon  should  need  arise.  What 
soul-turmoil  Is  more  distressing  than  that  of  the 
woman  who  cannot  make  herself  stop,  and  cannot 
make  her  father  or  husband  make  her  stop. 


THE  MORAL  USES  OF  HUSBANDS     301 

Of  our  men  it  can  too  often  be  said  that  ma- 
terially they  have  done  too  much  for  their  women, 
but  splrtually  too  little.  Too  often  a  man's  con- 
jugal Ideal  Is  to  work  himself  to  death  for  a  woman, 
and  at  the  same  time  neglect  her.  She  tires  then  of 
her  half-celibate  life. 

Dentists  tell  us  that  teeth  lacking  some  chemical 
element  will  crumble.  Women  who  turn  against 
the  woman-life  are  women  who  are  crumbling. 
Some  special  element  has  been  left  out  of  their  com- 
position, an  Ingredient  which  only  man's  will  can 
supply  and  which  his  neglect  robs  her  of.  In  giv- 
ing a  woman  freedom  man  forgets  that  freedom  has 
not  the  same  meaning  for  her  as  for  him,  nor  has  she 
the  same  use  for  It.  What  he  meant  to  be  freedom 
is  often  neglect  on  his  part. 

The  moral  uses  of  a  husband  and  man's  chief  serv- 
ice to  woman.  Is  that  of  a  railway  track  in  relation 
to  a  train  of  cars,  namely,  to  make  smooth  Its  way, 
lift  it  over  valleys,  carry  it  through  mountains, 
spare  it  all  unnecessary  exertion,  and  yet  not  fail 
to  determine  its  direction.  Man's  moral  duty  to 
woman  Is  to  prevent  her  destroying  herself  by  jump- 
ing her  track. 

Man  should  understand  better  than  she  does  (his 
being  the  longer  and  keener  vision  as  hers  is  the 
nearer  and  tenderer)  what  her  real  destination  is, 
and  lay  her  tracks  toward  it. 

If  this  Is  tyranny,  then  the  steel  bars  which  guide 
precious  loads  in  safety  across  a  continent  —  are 


302  FEMINISM 

tyrants.  The  despot  who  guides  us  to  our  true  goal 
and  makes  smooth  our  way  thither  is  the  sort  of 
despot  we  all  need.  Tyranny  of  that  sort  is  indis- 
tinguishable from  service^  it  is  the  highest  service. 
"  Our  chief  need,"  said  Emerson,  "  is  some  one  who 
can  make  us  do  what  we  can  " —  and  he  might  have 
added,  who  will  not  let  us  try  to  do  what  we  can- 
not. 

All  about  us  are  women  who  have  jumped  the 
track,  who  have  lost  sight  of  their  destination  and 
are  reaching  out  for  other  occupations  than  those  in 
which  they  truly  move  forward. 

Feminism  directs  its  bitterest  attacks  upon  women 
who  are  economically  dependent  upon  their  husbands, 
even  though  the  relation  be  a  happy  one  and  mu- 
tually satisfactory  to  the  parties  concerned. 

Among  the  amenities  commonly  practised  by  femi- 
nists in  this  connection  may  be  mentioned  a  habit 
of  alluding  to  married  women  who  are  supported 
by  their  husbands  as  *'  parasites."  This  figure  is 
questionable.  The  example  of  a  parasite  which  at 
once  occurs  to  us  is  the  flea,  a  creature  which  leads 
a  luxuriant  existence  and  derives  a  comfortable  liv- 
ing from  sucking  the  blood  of  the  reluctant  and  in- 
furiated dog. 

There  are  several  points  of  dissimilarity  between 
this  predatory  insect  and  a  wife.  The  first  super- 
ficial difference  which  we  may  note  is  the  fact  that 
the  man  upon  whose  life  blood  his  wife,  if  she  is 
"  a  parasite,"  is  supposed  to  subsist,  very  earnestly, 


THE  MORAL  USES  OF  HUSBANDS     303 

In  his  courtship  days,  besought  her  to  become  his 
parasite,  and  in  some  cases  moved  heaven  and  earth 
to  persuade  her  to  accept  the  position.  Dogs  don't 
do  that  with  fleas. 

Again  there  are  ways  which  women  have  of  mak- 
ing their  hosts  comfortable,  If  it  be  no  more  than 
warming  their  slippers  or  tying  their  cravat  or  meet- 
ing them  at  the  door  with  a  smile.  What  flea  has 
ever  been  known  to  do  this  ? 

Moreover,  man  shows  an  unwillingness  to  part 
with  his  wife,  will  fight  the  interloper  who  seeks  to 
deprive  him  of  her.  But  what  dog  Is  there  who 
will  not  willingly  part  with  his  flea  ? 

A  man  takes  pride  in  his  wife,  likes  to  walk  out 
with  her  and  introduce  her  to  his  friends.  But  no 
dog  takes  any  pride  In  his  flea,  prefers  not  to  walk 
out  with  her  or  to  introduce  her  to  anybody,  unless 
It  should  be  some  one  who  would  agree  to  take  her 
off  his  —  back. 

Again,  woman  soothes,  sympathises  with  and  en- 
courages her  man,  while  the  flea  exerts  quite  the  con- 
trary effect  upon  the  dog.  It  Is  true  that  both 
women  and  fleas  have  the  property  of  stimulating 
to  action  their  respective  supporters,  but  while  the 
man  is  generally  spurred  to  valuable  productive  la- 
bour by  his  wife,  the  dog's  activities  and  exertions 
In  relation  to  the  flea  are  wholly  unproductive. 

Finally,  no  dog  puts  on  mourning  crepe  or  dies  of 
a  broken  heart  when  his  flea  is  called  to  a  better 
world,  as  sometimes  happens  to  a  man  when  his 


304  FEMINISM 

wife  is  taken.  All  of  which  facts  seem  to  indicate 
that  in  return  for  her  support,  woman,  unlike  the 
flea,  gives  something  to  man  (aside  from  mother- 
ing his  children)  which  he,  unlike  the  animal,  is  will- 
ing to  accept  as  an  equivalent  return  for  the  nourish- 
ment he  gives  to  her. 

Considering  all  these  circumstances,  there  would 
appear  to  be  a  certain  inappropriateness  in  the  term 
"  parasite  "  as  applied  to  a  homekeeping  woman. 
We  feel  sure  that  our  feminist  friends  will  not  fail 
to  perceive  this  when  once  their  attention  has  been 
called  to  it. 


CHAPTER  X 

SOME    IMPRESSIONS    FROM    ELLEN   KEY 

Ellen  Key^s  eclecticism,  though  praiseworthy,  is 
bewildering.  Evolution,  it  seems,  has  required 
woman  to  leave  home  and  make  a  man  of  herself; 
but  evolution  requires  no  less  that  she  shall  eventually 
go  back  home  again  where  she  belongs.  She  must 
vote,  of  course,  in  order  to  prove  that  she  is  man's 
equal;  but  the  vote  is  not  of  much  consequence  and 
there  is  nothing  special  for  her  to  do  with  it. 
Woman  should  be  faithful  and  constant;  yet  she 
should  be  allowed  to  take  mates  on  approval  and 
change  at  pleasure. 

Despite  her  contrarieties  the  Swedish  sybil  is  a 
wise,  old,  modern  woman  who  has  received  many 
women's  confidences.  Women  are  her  pets;  but  her 
love  tends  to  dotage  and,  like  a  fond  grandmother, 
she  wishes,  regardless  of  consequences,  to  gratify 
her  darling's  every  wish. 

It  is  undeniable  that  many  of  her  pets  have  been 
having  a  pretty  hard  time  in  the  past,  especially 
in  those  countries  which  Ellen  Key  knows  best. 
Tyrannical  parents,  a  narrow,  sour,  home  life,  in- 
voluntary celibacy,  an  emptiness  of  existence,  embit- 
tered by  a  sense  of  neglect  —  these  formed  a  load 
of  sorrow  heaped  upon  many  women  in  Europe  dur- 

305 


3o6  FEMINISM 

ing  the  last  century.  In  part  they  are  the  entail 
upon  women  of  military  nations  who  have  the  habit 
of  draining  off  their  best  male  blood,  periodically,  in 
cruel  wars;  in  part  they  were  due  to  the  wide  pre- 
occupation of  men  in  the  game  of  wealth-getting, 
never  so  absorbing  before.  In  all  the  turmoil 
woman  seemed  somehow  to  get  left  and  few  for- 
lorner  beings  have  existed  than  the  old  maid  of  fifty 
years  ago.  Miss  Key's  tears  over  this  unhappy 
creature  are  well  bestowed.  Clearly  something 
needed  to  be  done  for  her.  Either  work  or  the  in- 
sane asylum.  Work  came.  She  took  it  awk- 
wardly but  with  pathetic  gratitude.  Ellen  Key  is 
too  wise  to  see  the  change  wholly  as  a  "  liberation," 
but  she  does  regard  it  as  a  useful  substitute  for  the 
real  thing;  better  than  nothing;  better  than  mad- 
ness! 

For  the  rest,  Ellen  Key  has  fallen  under  the  mod- 
ern curse  and  read  too  many  books.  Worse  yet  — 
she  has  believed  them!  Her  eclectic  mind  leads 
her  to  see  "  good  "  in  everything,  with  the  result 
that  a  vast  number  of  goods  have  been  frightfully 
jumbled  together  in  one  well-meaning  mind.  We 
wish  common  factors  could  be  cancelled,  divided  by 
the  greatest  common  divisor  or  subjected  to  some 
other  operation  of  mathematical  house  cleaning,  and 
we  be  presented  with  a  simplified  net  result. 

From  the  present  disarray  of  her  ideas  it  hap- 
pens, however,  that  persons  holding  the  most  con- 
tradictory views  on  the  woman  question  all  look  con- 


IMPRESSIONS  FROM  ELLEN  KEY     307 

fidently  to  Ellen  Key's  books  for  support;  and  Ellen 
never  fails  them.  To  feminists  she  is  a  tower  of 
strength ;  to  anti-feminists  a  seer  and  a  prophetess. 

By  way  of  illustration  let  us  take  a  few  passages 
from  "  Love  and  Marriage." 

"  Woman  has  gained  her  highest  qualities  in  the 
home" — (applause  from  anti-suffragists), 

— "  but  she  must  now  exercise  this  character  on 
public  matters" — (applause  from  suffragists). 

''She  must  enter  man's  sphere" — (cries  of  joy 
from  feminists), 

— "  but  without  becoming  less  womanly.  The 
differences  in  the  sexes  are  of  priceless  value  " — 
(similar  cries  from  antis). 

"  However,  both  sexes  should  follow  the  same  oc- 
cupations in  order  that  their  differences  shall  be  mini- 
mised—  (demonstration  by  feminists). 

*'  Unless  women  maintain  their  different  charac- 
teristics when  they  enter  politics" — (voice  from 
antis — "which  they  won't,  their  votes  will  only 
double  the  poll  without  altering  results."  Vocifer- 
ous assent  from  antis). 

"  Not  until  governments  embody  motherliness  as 
well  as  fatherliness  will  they  provide  for  the  needs 
of  all  their  children  " — (wild  enthusiasm  of  suffra- 
gists; cries  of  "tommy  rot"  from  antis). 

"  State  care  of  children  would  wither  parental  af- 
fection " —  (assent  from  conservatives). 

"  The  line  of  life  is  freedom  for  love's  selection, 
under  conditions  favourable  to  the  race ;  limitation  of 


3o8  FEMINISM 

procreation,  but  not  of  love,  under  conditions  un- 
favourable to  the  race" — (consternation  of  con- 
servatives; cheers  from  radicals  and  free  lovers). 

'^  Humanity  is  approaching  the  parting  of  the 
ways.  Either  woman  must  devote  herself  to  moth- 
erhood and  the  home  while  man  either  personally  by 
outside  labour  or  through  state  pensions  provides  for 
her  maintenance  —  or — "  (breathless  suspense) 
"  or  women  must  be  trained  to  enter  into  a  relentless 
competition  against  men  "  (cries  of  "  hear,  hear  " 
from  suffragists).  '*  In  which  case  they  will  lose 
more  and  more  the  capacity  as  well  as  the  desire  for 
motherhood  and  the  State  will  have  to  undertake 
the  breeding  as  well  as  the  rearing  of  children  " 
—  (horrified  suspense  of  both  parties). 

"  If  we  are  to  retain  the  old  order  of  things  and 
the  home  is  not  to  become  a  mere  place  for  eating 
and  sleeping,  then  woman  must  be  won  back  to  the 
home" — (applause  from  the  antis). 

"  Woman's  desire  for  freedom  as  a  human  being 
provides  for  her  a  tragic  conflict.  Her  soul  is 
bound  to  the  tops  of  two  trees.  Her  struggles  will 
one  day  surpass  in  fanaticism  any  war  of  religion  or 
of  race.  She  cannot  do  two  things  at  once.  What 
is  personal  In  her  home  life  cannot  be  left  to  an- 
other. But  care  of  her  family  may  interfere  with 
her  book,  her  picture,  her  lecture  " — (voice  of  fem- 
inist:    ''Freedom  above  all!"). 

"  When  talented  women  decide  for  their  career 
it  is  doubtful  whether  the  race  would  not  have  gained 


IMPRESSIONS  FROM  ELLEN  KEY    309 

more  had  they  been  mothers  " — (loud  applause  from 
anti-femlnists.  A  voice  from  the  gallery,  "  Oh, 
hang  the  race!     Votes  for  women! ''). 

"  The  women  of  the  world  produce  annually  per- 
haps a  hundred  thousand  novels  and  works  of  art 
which  might  better  have  been  boys  and  girls  '^ — 
( feminist  voice :     "  Bosh !  " ) . 

"  A  return  to  the  old  ideal  of  womanliness  is  un- 
thinkable " —  (applause  from  feminists). 

"  Woman  must  be  inspired  in  a  new  way,  but  in- 
spired for  her  old  task** — ("Hear,  hear"  from 
antis). 

"  Woman  needed  to  prove  her  title  to  the  same 
rights  as  man.  In  a  century  these  rights  have  been 
practically  ceded" — (cheers  from  feminists). 

— "  but  taken  by  themselves  these  privileges 
merely  reduce  woman  to  the  level  of  a  competitive 
struggle  with  maij" — (loud  applause  from  anti- 
feminists). 

"  Feminists  have  pressed  forward  woman's  right 
to  work;  but  they  have  overlooked  the  effects  of  her 
work  " — (renewed  applause  from  antis). 

"  Woman's  competing  with  man  in  industry  has 
occasioned  the  growth  of  ill-feeling  between  the 
sexes.  Women  feel  themselves  cheapened  and  un- 
derestimated. Men  resent  being  thrust  aside  " — 
(chuckles  from  feminists). 

"  Man  no  longer  finds  in  woman  rest  after  his 
worries.  She  meets  him  with  her  worries.  She 
has  to  overwork.     She  loses  her  elasticity.     Love 


310  FEMINISM 

requires  peace.  It  cannot  subsist  upon  the  remnant 
of  our  time. —  The  delight  in  labour  is  being  lost. 
The  numbers  increase  to  whom  work  means  ill- 
health,  anxiety,  lethargy.  It  destroys  the  treasures 
of  life.  It  makes  women,  like  men,  unscrupulous, 
restless,  empty,  hard."  .  .  .  ''  Even  women  are  com- 
ing to  see  that  neither  the  right  to  work,  nor  educa- 
tion, nor  citizenship,  can  compensate  for  trampled 
possibihties  of  happiness" — ("True!"  from  anti- 
feminists). 

'*  Women  are  right  who  wish  economic  inde- 
pendence, who  will  not  confine  their  gifts  to  the 
home,  who  wish  to  live  their  own  lives  " — (loud  ap- 
plause from  feminists). 

— "  but  what  if  it  means  exemption  from  moth- 
erhood? "—("  Ha!  ha!"  from  antis). 

"  They  declare  that  making  money,  studying, 
writing,  taking  part  in  politics,  is  a  higher  existence 
than  the  mere  passive  function  of  bearing  chil- 
dren" —  (feminist  voice  "Hear,  hear"). 

"  But  motherhood  is  not  only  passive.  It  con- 
tains, as  nothing  else  does,  the  possibility  of  put- 
ting the  whole  personality  into  activity."  "  The 
women  who  wish  to  lead  their  own  lives  are  not  en- 
titled to  equal  respect  with  those  who  find  their  high- 
est life  through  their  children" — (applause  from 
antis) . 

"  In  politics  women  would  at  first  be  reactionary; 
but  even  then  their  direct  influence  would  be  less 


IMPRESSIONS  FROM  ELLEN  KEY     311 

dangerous  than  their  Indirect,  irresponsible  influence 
is  now" — (loud  applause  from  suffragists). 

"  Education  weakens  woman  by  detracting  from 
her  qualities  without  giving  her  those  of  man  " — 
(assent  from  antis). 

"  But  we  hope  that  she  will  attain  power  before 
she  has  lost  her  special  characteristics,  and  so  will 
bring  about  new  conditions " — (applause  from 
suffragists). 

"  If  that  hope  fails  then  woman's  entrance  into 
public  life  will  not  change  it  for  a  thousand  years  " 
—  ("  No,  indeed!  "  from  antis). 

"  Opponents  to  woman  suffrage  declare  that 
woman  should  put  her  whole  strength  into  the  rear- 
ing of  men.  If  she  produces  great  men  they  will 
reform  society  and  realise  her  ideals,  whereas  if  she 
endeavours  to  do  so  herself  she  will  only  lose  her 
ideals  in  party  strife  " — (murmurs  of  joy  from 
antis). 

— "  but  this  does  not  correspond  to  reality  " — 
(voice  from  suffragists:  **  Of  course  not!" 
Voice  from  antis :     "  Why  not  ?  " ) . 


CHAPTER  XI 

VOTES    FOR  WOMEN 

Of  all  the  forms  of  Feminism,  the  movement  known 
as  "votes  for  women'*  is  the  most  innocuous;  in- 
deed its  relative  unimportance  in  the  scheme  of  the 
universe  has  never  been  adequately  described.  That 
women  take  it  so  seriously  might  be  regarded  as  one 
of  the  drollest  manifestations  of  lack  of  humour  were 
it  not  obvious  that  their  importunities  rest  upon  a 
childish  delusion,  quite  solemnly  held,  regarding  the 
value  of  the  ballot.  Their  absurd  indignation  at 
being  excluded  from  it  is  only  comprehensible  when 
we  realise  the  degree  of  exaggerated  envy  and  ven- 
eration which  they  attach  to  the  privilege  from  which 
they  are  being  excluded. 

"  But  the  question  of  suffrage  is  so  simple,"  pro- 
tested a  suffragist  to  me.  "  It  is  only  justice;  simple 
justice.  It  is  unfair  to  exclude  women  from  the 
privilege  of  the  ballot." 

Why  is  it  unfair?  Is  it  unfair  to  deprive  them 
of  the  privilege  of  wearing  trousers,  or  serving  on 
juries,  or  bearing  arms,  or  dying  in  the  trenches? 

Is  it  unfair  to  deprive  a  person  of  something  they 
don't  want?     Is  it  unfair  or  unjust  to  exclude  a 

312 


VOTES  FOR  WOMEN  313 

woman  from  a  privilege  which  is  a  privilege  only  in 
some  one  else's  judgment,  not  in  hers? 

In  most  families  the  custom  obtains  that  while 
the  woman  orders  most  things,  the  man  of  the  house 
orders  the  coal.  Coal  seems  to  belong  to  the  out- 
side world,  along  with  lumber  and  bricks  and  earth 
and  the  like.  Moreover,  the  man  often  tends  the 
furnace;  stoking  Is  his  job.  Somebody  has  to  order 
the  coal;  coal  is  in  his  province;  he  is  the  suitable 
person;  therefore  he  does  it.  The  custom  has 
arisen  spontaneously,  no  laws  to  that  effect  having 
been  enacted,  and  seems,  as  far  as  one  can  observe, 
to  work  satisfactorily  to  all  concerned.  One  never 
hears  that  it  is  a  matter  of  **  simple  justice  "  that  the 
woman  should  order  the  coal,  or  at  least  half  of 
the  coal!  One  does  not  hear  her  imploring  to  be 
allowed  to  share  this  privilege  with  her  man.  If 
he  dies  then  she  must  take  his  place  and  order  the 
coal;  but  she  does  not  seem  to  feel  that  her  privileges 
have  been  thereby  extended,  or  her  status  in  society 
raised  —  neither  she  nor  does  any  one  else.  Indeed, 
she  is  rather  commiserated  than  congratulated,  as 
one  having  to  assume  an  extra  burden. 

Voting  at  political  elections  is  a  part  of  the  or- 
dinary, humdrum  routine  of  life.  It  is  to  carrying 
on  government,  what  ordering  coal  is  to  a  household. 
Somebody  has  got  to  vote  because,  unfortunately, 
we  have  to  have  a  government,  just  as,  in  our  cli- 
mate, we  have  to  burn  fires,  and  therefore  have 
to  order  fuel.     But  there  is  nothing  joyous,  nothing 


314  FEMINISM 

exhilarating,  nothing  elevating  about  either  act,  noth- 
ing that  confers  an  atom  of  weight  or  a  spark  of 
glory  upon  those  who  perform  it. 

Men  themselves,  now  that  the  first  access  of 
democratic  fever  is  somewhat  spent,  are  coming  to 
attach  less  and  less  value  to  the  ballot.  In  some 
countries  compulsory  voting  laws  have  become 
necessary,  and  they  are  being  proposed  as  a  last  re- 
sort in  getting  out  the  vote  —  even  in  our  own  great 
democracy.  Moreover,  interest  in  politics,  as  evi- 
denced by  voting,  is  declining  fastest  among  the  men 
of  those  States  in  which  women  vote.  As  the  vote 
cheapens,  men's  eyes  are  being  opened  to  its  real 
character  as  merely  a  rather  burdensome  duty. 
Whereupon,  in  true  man  fashion,  just  as  they  have 
turned  over  the  churches  and  largely  the  schools  to 
the  care  of  women  —  they  are  falling  into  the  habit 
already  of  leaving  politics  to  them.  In  California, 
for  every  woman  who  went  to  the  polls  upon  the  first 
woman  suffrage  election,  some  man  stayed  at  home. 
They  have  already  inaugurated  the  policy  of  "  leav- 
ing it  to  the  women."  They  seem  to  have  said  to 
themselves  what  the  Irish  trooper  said  to  his  horse, 
when  the  animal  got  its  hoof  into  the  stirrup: 
"  Now,  then,  if  ye're  goin'  to  get  on,  Oi'm  goin'  to 
get  off." 

The  glamour  with  which  women  continue  to  in- 
vest the  ballot,  long  after  men  are  ceasing  to  do 
so,  is  due  to  the  echoes  of  a  political  superstition 
which  was  at  its  height  among  men  some  fifty  years 


VOTES  FOR  WOMEN  315 

ago.  The  tide  reached  flood  at  the  close  of  our 
Civil  War,  when  the  vote  was  extended  to  the  negro. 
Since  then  it  has  been  steadily  receding  and  women 
suffragists  are  about  a  half-century,  intellectually, 
behind  the  procession.  The  psychology  of  the 
movement  is,  as  might  be  expected,  a  thing  of  shreds 
and  patches,  a  droll  medley  of  childish  delusions, 
irrelevancies,  sophistries  and  general  poppycock  — 
a  thing  to  be  good-naturedly  favoured  or  good- 
naturedly  opposed,  according  to  one's  bias,  but  never 
to  be  taken  too  seriously. 

A  lady  suffragist  once  epitomised  to  me  its  logical 
aspects  in  the  following  syllogism : — 

Major  premise;  Men  have  made  a  mess  of  poli- 
tics. 

Minor  premise :     Women  are  men's  equals. 

Conclusion :  Therefore  they  should  be  permitted 
to  make  a  mess  of  politics. 

The  bewildering  variety  of  opinion  among  women, 
pro  and  con,  might  be  summarised  as  follows : 

SUFFRAGISTS 

The  vote  is  a  boon  and  a  privilege.  Therefore  I 
want  it. 

ANTI-SUFFRAGISTS 

The  vote  is  a  burden  and  a  nuisance.  Therefore 
I  do  not  want  it. 

SUFFRAGISTS 

Whether  you  want  it  or  not,  you  should  be  made 
to  take  it. 


3i6  FEMINISM 

ANTI-SUFFRAGISTS 
Whether  we  want  it  or  not  Is  our  own  affair. 
You  have  no  right  to  force  it  upon  us. 

SUFFRAGISTS 

It  IS  your  duty;  duty  needs  to  be  enforced;  you 
should  not  be  permitted  to  evade  it. 

ANTI-SUFFRAGISTS 
We  reserve  the  right  to  determine  what  is  our 
duty  ourselves.  Besides,  you  have  declared  that 
the  vote  is  a  privilege.  If  that  is  correct  why  do 
you  talk  of  forcing  it  upon  us?  People  don't  need 
to  have  privileges  thrust  upon  them. 

SUFFRAGISTS 

But  you  don't  seem  to  understand  that  It  is  a  privi- 
lege. 

ANTI-SUFFRAGISTS 

We  have  a  right  to  our  own  opinion  on  that  sub- 
ject. If  we  are  intelligent  enough  to  vote,  as  you 
maintain,  we  are  intelHgent  enough  to  refuse  it  if  we 
see  fit. 

SUFFRAGISTS 
Men  think  voting  is  a  privilege;  that  is  why  they 
keep  it  to  themselves  and  shut  us  out. 

ANTI-SUFFRAGISTS 
On  the  contrary  they  know  it  is  a  burden  and 
therefore  they  are  willing  to  relieve  us  of  it. 


VOTES  FOR  WOMEN  317 

SUFFRAGISTS 
We  denounce  men. 

ANTI-SUFFRAGISTS 
We  praise  and  thank  men. 

SOME   OTHER    SUFFRAGISTS 

We  do  not  denounce  men;  we  are  sorry  for  them; 
their  political  burdens  are  greater  than  they  can  bear. 
We  wish  to  help  them. 

ANTI-SUFFRAGISTS 

We  think  men  are  quite  capable  of  standing  under 
their  duty  without  our  assistance. 

SUFFRAGISTS 

An  anti-suffragist  man  is  a  tyrant. 

ANTI-SUFFRAGISTS 

We  don't  like  to  state  In  public  what  we  think  of 
the  male  suffragist! 

SUFFRAGISTS 
Men  can  never  save  society  without  our  help; 
their  politics  are  corrupt  and  incompetent. 

ANTI-SUFFRAGISTS 

The  remedy  for  political  ills  is  better  men.  Men 
are  what  women  In  the  home  have  made  them. 
There  is  where  reform  should  begin. 

SUFFRAGISTS 

Politics  Is  a  human  concern. 


3i8  FEMINISM 

ANTI-SUFFRAGISTS 
Politics  is  a  man's  game. 

There  is  scarcely  less  variety  of  opinion  among 
men  who  are  for,  or  against,  and  the  forming  of 
opinions  upon  personal  experience  is  a  weakness  not 
confined  to  the  fair  sex.  There  is  the  man,  for  ex- 
ample, who  says :  "  My  mother  and  my  wife  are 
the  equals  of  any  man.  When  I  think  that  an 
Italian  labourer  can  vote  while  they  may  not,  my 
blood  boils."  He  omits  to  mention  that  the  Italian 
labourer's  wife's  and  mother's  votes  would  probably 
offset  any  advantage  which  would  accrue  intellec- 
tually to  the  nation  from  the  votes  of  his  cultivated 
woman  folk.  At  the  other  extreme  is  the  man  con- 
vinced that  women  are  inferior  and  unfit  mentally 
to  exercise  the  franchise.  This  species  is  rare. 
There  is  the  helpless  man  who  cries  to  woman  to 
come  help  him  out  of  his  political  difficulties.  One 
of  these  declared  at  a  suffrage  meeting:  "I  want 
my  wife  at  my  side  when  I  walk  to  the  polling  booth 
to  vote."  A  spirited  young  woman  present  ex- 
claimed afterward  to  her  friends:  "A  man  like 
that  would  want  his  wife  to  walk  at  his  side  when 
he  goes  to  the  dentist  to  have  a  tooth  filled!  If  / 
were  married  to  a  man  who  wanted  me  to  walk  by 
his  side  when  he  went  to  the  polling  booth,  I  should 
say  to  him,  kindly  but  firmly :  *  Now,  see  here,  Per- 
cival,  if  you  are  ill  I  will  sit  by  your  side  and  do 
all  I  can  for  you.     But  so  long  as  you  are  able- 


VOTES  FOR  WOMEN  319 

bodied  and  quite  capable  of  walking  to  the  polling 
booth  by  yourself,  If  it  is  only  two  blocks  away  and 
perfectly  safe  In  broad  daylight,  If  you  behave  like 
a  lady  —  you'll  have  to  put  your  ticket  in  the  chop- 
box  without  wifey's  help,  Perclval.'  " 

Opposite  to  Perclval  Is  the  man  who  confides  to  his 
men  friends  his  opinion:  "Politics  is  a  dirty  job, 
do  the  best  we  can.  Don't  let's  drag  women  into 
it."  Then  there  are  the  Indulgent  men  of  both 
types.  *'  If  women  want  the  vote,  I'd  give  it  to 
them.  I'd  give  the  dear  things  anything  they  ask 
for."  And  the  other:  "Women  don't  want  the 
vote.  I  won't  see  It  forced  upon  them  against  their 
will.  They  have  burdens  enough  to  bear  now." 
Again:  "Women  are  our  equals  and  should  enjoy 
equal  privileges."  And  Its  opposite:  "Women 
are  our  superiors  and  should  not  be  worried  with 
vulgar  matters  like  politics." 

A  chorus  of  men  and  women  may  be  heard  faintly 
reiterating:  "The  vote  is  a  privilege  and  should 
be  extended  to  all."  "  The  vote  is  a  burden 
and  should  be  restricted  to  those  best  able  to  bear 


it." 


Chorus  (dying  away  in  the  distance) 

...  a  privilege ! 
...  a  nuisance  I 

...  It  Is ! 
,  .  .  it  Isn't! 


320  FEMINISM 

...  I  want  it  I 
...  I  don't  want  it ! 

Some  half  a  century  behind  the  times  the  woman 
suffrage  movement  to-day  is  full  of  certain  quaint 
anachronisms.  With  the  single  exception  of  the 
supposed  use  that  working  women  could  make  of  the 
vote  to  raise  their  wages  (quite  illusory,  since  men 
have  not  voted  themselves  into  higher  wages),  the 
movement  is  naively  irrelevant  to  the  real  needs  of 
the  day.  At  a  time,  for  example,  when  the  elec- 
torate is  becoming  already  so  enormous  that  the 
mechanical  counting  of  votes  is  difficult  and  the  ex- 
pense of  elections  quite  beyond  their  value  to  the 
country,  it  proposes  to  double  the  number  of  votes. 
Common  sense  calls  for  simplification  of  govern- 
mental machinery;  but  women  suffragists  call  for 
more  confusion  and  complexity.  At  a  time  when  all 
indications  point  to  the  decay  of  the  family  they 
would  transfer  still  more  human  energy  from  it  to 
the  State.  At  a  time  when  the  home  needs  renovat- 
ing from  garret  to  cellar,  they  call  upon  women  to 
undertake  "  municipal  housekeeping."  At  a  time 
when  woman's  personal  influence,  as  guardian  and 
teacher  and  nurse  to  her  children,  as  guide,  phi- 
/osopher  and  friend  to  her  husband,  as  benefactor 
to  her  friends,  to  strangers  and  to  the  poor  at  her 
gates,  is  urgently  called  for,  woman  suffrage  de- 
mands that  she  be  given  the  vote  in  order  to  have 
"  something  to  do."     At  a  time  when  §ociety  is  al- 


VOTES  FOR  WOMEN  321 

ready  too  masculine  in  its  ideals  and  pursuits  it  would 
have  woman  add  her  presence  to  masculine  ideals 
and  pursuits  and  thus  upset  still  more  the  normal 
balance.  When  she  needs  above  all  things  to  assert 
HERSELF  and  to  count  for  all  she  is  worth,  it  would 
cheapen  her  by  throwing  her  into  the  welter  of  pub- 
lic affairs.  At  a  time  when,  by  long  efforts,  a  gen- 
erous legal  provision  has  been  made  for  her,  favour- 
ing her  above  man  before  the  law  —  it  demands 
for  her  a  political  equality  which  is  likely  to  annul 
these  special  privileges  and,  indeed,  in  suffrage 
States,  has  already  done  so.  At  a  time  when  men 
are  allowing  their  sense  of  political  responsibility  to 
slacken  and  take  every  excuse  to  avoid  political  and 
jury  obligations,  it  is  paving  the  way  to  further  lax- 
ness  by  making  it  possible  for  them  to  "  leave  it  to 
the  women."  At  a  time  when  compulsory  voting 
laws  are  being  called  for  to  force  men  to  vote  at  all, 
women  are  being  told  that  the  vote  is  a  precious 
possession,  which  they  should  make  every  sacrifice 
to  obtain.  At  a  time  when  the  immigration  prob- 
lem and  the  assimilation  of  foreign  influences  are  be- 
coming Increasingly  difficult,  it  would  add  the  immi- 
grant woman  to  the  immigrant  man,  as  a  voter,  and 
double  the  size  of  the  Ignorant  and  venal  vote.  At 
a  time  when  the  family  has  received  a  damaging 
blow  by  the  wholesale  exodus  of  women  into  indus- 
try, it  proposes  to  add  one  more  attraction  and  oc- 
cupation to  engage  them  still  further  in  outside  mat- 
ters.    At  a  time  when  the  ranks  of  fallen  girls  is 


322  FEMINISM 

augmented  by  the  many  who  have  lost  the  protection 
of  home,  it  proposes  to  throw  them  still  more  into 
association  with  men  in  politics  and  expose  them  to 
further  temptation.  At  a  time  when  social  justice 
demands,  through  collectivism,  a  wider  distribution 
of  wealth,  it  proposes  to  inject  into  public  affairs  the 
individualistic  anti-collectivist  influence  of  women 
(wholly  valuable  in  the  family).  At  a  time  when 
it  is  diflSicult  for  any  man  to  clear  himself  of  the 
suspicion  of  self-seeking  in  politics,  and  when  there- 
fore it  is  pecuHarly  desirable  that  there  shall  be  a 
body  of  citizens  who  shall  be,  like  Caesar's  wife, 
"  above  suspicion,"  and  thus  able  to  push  reforms  in 
a  whole-hearted  and  disinterested  manner,  it  pro- 
poses to  rob  society  of  this  invaluable  asset  and  re- 
duce both  sexes  to  the  same  level  of  always  suspected 
self-interest. 

At  a  time  when  half  the  world  is  at  war  and  the 
truth  is  made  plain  that  the  government  of  all  na- 
tions rests  upon  force,  and  that  no  law  Is  worth  a 
scrap  of  paper  more  than  the  force  of  the  gun  behind 
it,  woman  suffragists  propose  that  women  shall  en- 
cumber government  with  special  laws,  which  they 
themselves  could  not  enforce,  and  which  men  must, 
therefore,  be  prepared  to  die  for  if  necessary.  The 
male  voter  Is  committed  to  the  task  of  backing  up 
his  vote  with  his  fist  or  his  gun  In  case  It  can  be  en- 
forced In  no  other  way.  A  woman's  vote  has  no 
guaranty  behind  It  and  therefore  she  can  never  be 
a  citizen  in  the  same  sense  that  a  man  is  a  citizen. 


VOTES  FOR  WOMEN  323 

(At  most  she  can  only  become  a  sort  of  left-handed 
or  morganatic  citizen  —  never  quite  legitimately 
wedded  to  the  State.)  She  can  vote  only  by  cour- 
tesy as  a  sort  of  honourary  citizen,  a  citizen  emer- 
itus, not  an  active,  sustaining  member  of  the  body 
politic.  As  boys  playing  '*  soldier,"  with  sticks  for 
guns,  the  woman  voter  carries  a  gun  that  won't  go 
off.  She  casts  her  ballot  when  and  where  men  suf- 
fer her  to  do  so.  She  can  neither  secure  the  ballot 
nor  hold  it  without  his  consent.  She  may  rail  at 
this  as  much  as  she  likes;  but  such  is  the  case,  and 
nobody  is  to  blame  for  it  except  Nature,  which  made 
her  the  weaker. 

It  is  true  that  not  every  man  could  enforce  his 
vote;  the  cripple  could  not.  But,  after  all,  disabled 
men  are  a  handful;  while  disabled  women  (phys- 
ically) are  the  whole  sex.  Moreover,  the  man's 
disability  may  be  temporary  and  he  may  one  day  re- 
cover his  strength.  But  womanhood  is  an  infirmity 
from  which  women  rarely,  if  ever,  wholly  recover. 

Many  women  think  that  they  want  to  vote  be- 
cause they  do  not  quite  know  what  voting  is  about. 
They  don't  realise  that  its  object  is  to  make  laws. 
And  laws,  as  every  woman  knows,  are  a  nuisance. 
Who  wants  to  be  always  making  laws,  always  try- 
ing to  rule  and  repress  and  regulate  other  people's 
affairs?  What  pleasure  can  there  be  in  perpetually 
worrying  your  fellow-beings  with  more  laws;  have 
they  not  troubles  enough  already!  Women  have 
no  affinity  with  laws ;  they  lack  the  aptitude  either  to 


324  FEMINISM 

make  laws  or  to  obey  them.  In  a  world  of  women 
there  would  be  few  laws  made,  and  fewer  still  en- 
forced. It  is  woman's  way  to  get  along  somehow, 
from  hour  to  hour,  compromising  with  each  diffi- 
culty as  it  arises.  And  there  is  much  to  be  said  for 
this  method. 

The  good  woman  who  has  been  wheedled  into 
joining  the  suffrage  sisterhood  is  fascinated  by  the 
notion  that  with  a  vote  she  could  reform  society. 
She  would  clean  the  streets  with  her  vote  —  as 
though  it  were  a  broom !  (The  streets  of  Paris  and 
of  Berlin  are  clean  and  not  a  woman's  vote  has  made 
them  so.)  She  would  abolish  saloons.  (They 
have  been  abolished  in  numerous  States  where  she 
does  not  vote.)  She  would  banish  vice.  (Denver 
continues  a  hotbed  of  vice,  uneffected  by  twenty  years 
of  women's  voting.)  She  would  prohibit  child-la- 
bour. (Which  no  woman's  State  has  done.)  She 
would  protect  women  in  factories.  (Which  is  best 
done  in  the  older  States,  where  she  does  not  vote.) 

Nevertheless  she  persists  in  thinking  that  with  a 
vote  she  could  go  forth  and  slay  every  dragon,  like 
Don  Quixote  with  his  lance.  I  have  talked  with 
women  who  seemed  to  be  under  the  impression  that  a 
polling  booth  Is  a  place  with  a  row  of  little  boxes, 
like  nests  in  a  hen  house,  and  you  drop  a  ballot  In 
this  box  if  you  want  clean  streets,  and  In  that  If  you 
want  pure  milk  and  fresh  vegetables,  and  in  this  box 
if  you  want  the  price  of  butter  to  go  down,  and  in 
that  if  you  don't  want  your  husband  to  stay  out. 


VOTES  FOR  WOMEN  325 

so  late  nights,  and  in  this  if  you  want  more  sub- 
way trains  —  anything  you  want  I  Voting  is  just 
like  writing  a  letter  to  Santa  Claus. 

One  woman,  whom  I  interrogated  before  an  elec- 
tion a  few  years  ago,  as  to  her  precise  objects  in 
wishing  to  vote,  said  that  with  a  vote  she  meant 
to  bring  in  economy,  justice  and  efficiency  in  govern- 
ment. She  intended,  she  said,  to  vote  for  the  Good, 
the  Beautiful,  and  the  True.  "  Now,  see  here,''  I 
protested,  "  you  can^t  vote  for  the  Good,  the  Beau- 
tiful and  the  True.  They're  not  printed  on  the  bal- 
lot papers.  What  you  have  to  vote  for  is  just 
William  H.  Taft,  or  William  R.  Hearst,  or  William 
J.  Bryan  or  some  other  William  —  it's  Williams 
you  have  to  vote  for  —  not  the  Good,  the  Beautiful 
and  the  True !  " 

Suffragists  assure  us  that  their  very  presence  in 
man's  savage  and  barbarous  world  would  soften  and 
civilise  it.  Yet  women  have  entered  business  by  the 
thousands;  have  they  altered  business  by  their  in- 
fluence? They  have  entered  journalism  in  shoals; 
have  they  effected  any  change  in  newspaper  meth- 
ods? Is  the  press  any  the  less  vulgar,  less  sensa- 
tional, less  prying,  less  unscrupulous,  for  her  pres- 
ence In  the  editorial  office  ?  The  press  Is  susceptible 
to  pressure,  but  it  must  come  from  the  box  office, 
from  the  advertiser,  from  the  reader.  Woman  in 
the  home,  as  reader,  as  buyer,  as  wife  of  an  adver- 
tiser can  affect  journalism;  as  employe  of  the  press 
she  ha§  no  influence.     Neither  business,  nor  journal- 


326  FEMINISM 

ism,  nor  politics  becomes  more  moral,  more  refined, 
more  honest,  more  humane  because  of  her  participa- 
tion in  them.  She  is  the  subordinate  when  she  en- 
ters man's  world,  and  takes  on  more  colour  than  she 
imparts.  Her  presence  in  man's  world  does  not 
turn  it  womanward.  She  is  out  of  her  element 
there.  She  has  no  purchase  on  the  situation.  She 
cannot  lift  man's  world  a  hair's-breadth  above  His 
level  because  it  is  his  world.  He  made  it;  he  con- 
trols it;  he  understands  it  —  at  least  better  than  she 
does.  She  can  influence  his  world  best  by  staying 
out  of  it  and  creating  a  world  of  her  own,  very  dif- 
ferent from  his,  the  influence  of  which  he  will  never- 
theless not  escape. 

Feminists  seem  to  be  under  a  curious  snob-obses- 
sion which  leads  them  to  suppose  that  man  moves 
on  a  higher  social  plane,  and  that  they  must  strain 
every  nerve  to  climb  into  his  set.  Why  not  let  him 
do  the  straining  to  climb  into  our  set? 

They  would  have  women  copy  man,  imitate  him, 
duplicate  him.  Always  woman  is  to  follow  him, 
follow  him,  follow  him.  Follow  him  into  workshop, 
oflUce  and  factory;  follow  him  down  into  mines  and 
up  in  balloons;  follow  him  to  Arctic  snows  and 
tropic  jungles,  to  the  bed  of  the  ocean  and  to  the 
summits  of  the  tall  mountains.  We  are  urged  to 
follow  him  into  halls  of  learning  and  struggle  with 
him  brain  to  brain;  to  follow  him  to  his  sports  and 
recreations  —  to  his  base  ball  games  which  we  can- 
jiot  understand,  to  his  prize  fights  which  we  detest 


VOTES  FOR  WOMEN  327 

Follow  him  to  the  market  place,  the  race  track,  the 
cockpit.  Follow  him  to  the  polling  booth,  to  the 
saloon;  follow  him  into  battle  and  into  the  insane 
wars  which  he  is  not  well-bred  enough  to  avoid  — 
only  follow  him  I 

The  perfect  presentment  of  this  aberration  may 
be  seen  any  fine  day  on  our  country  roads  in  that 
strange  apparition  —  the  tandem  motorcycle.  On 
the  front  seat  sits  the  man,  with  fixed  look  and  hag- 
gard face,  begrimed  and  begoggled,  while  behind 
him  clings  his  wretched  mate,  similarly  begrimed 
and  begoggled  and  deliriously  uncomely.  Upon 
her  stony  and  desperate  visage  is  plainly  written  the 
legend:  "Where  he  goes  —  I  go.  He  shall  not 
escape  me." 

Far  be  it  from  the  present  writer  to  doubt  that 
the  man  enjoys  the  adventure  with  its  elements  of 
power  and  danger  congenial  to  the  masculine  mind. 
But  I  cannot  believe  that  the  woman  lives  who  can 
honestly  enjoy  the  position  of  his  companion,  help- 
less, paralysed,  blinded,  hanging  on  like  a  monkey 
to  a  circus  horse,  afraid  to  stay  on  and  afraid  to  let 
go !  The  extraordinary  thing  about  it  is  that  some- 
body has  made  her  believe  that  this  is  freedom! 

The  woman  who  insists  upon  being  herself  does 
not  experience  the  slightest  desire  to  do  things 
merely  because  men  do  them;  neither  to  smoke,  nor 
chew,  nor  vote,  nor  fight.  Often  she  has  occasion 
to  ask  herself:  "  What  is  man,  that  we  are  mind- 
ful of  him?'' 


328  FEMINISM 

As  intelligent  reformers  have  already  discovered, 
the  directest  method  of  securing  a  reform,  in  our 
country,  is  not  by  voting  at  all  (that  is  the  slowest, 
most  cumbersome  and  most  uncertain  of  methods), 
but  by  direct  appeal  to  the  legislative  committees  of 
men,  whom  perhaps  your  opponents  have  elected. 
The  methods  of  these  legislative  committees  are 
an  institution  peculiar  to  America;  and  they  render 
the  exercise  of  the  ballot  in  this  country,  by  women 
reformers,  entirely  superfluous.  Not  a  few  women 
have  secured,  without  a  vote,  simply  by  appealing  to 
these  legislative  committees  persistently,  more  re- 
forms than  has  many  a  man  with  a  vote.  The  ex- 
ceptional woman,  with  a  taste  for  politics  (never 
forget  that  she  is  a  rare  bird)  is  provided,  by  our 
system,  the  means  for  the  full  exercise  of  her  po- 
litical talents.  Women  who  are  burning  to  be  use- 
ful may  be  reminded  that  there  are.  In  New  York 
City  alone,  over  eight  thousand  civic  and  philan- 
thropic organisations,  all  shouting  for  helpers;  and 
they  never  ask  whether  one  has  a  vote  or  not.  Yet 
one  meets  women  who  seem  to  be  positively  yearn- 
ing to  take  part  in  "  municipal  housekeeping  " — 
whether  they  have  made  much  of  a  success  of  their 
home  housekeeping  or  not.  The  latter  is  so  sordid ! 
And,  of  course,  there  is  nothing  sordid  in  hiring 
street  cleaners  and  garbage  collectors  or  in  superin- 
tending city  dumps!  Any  work  is  inspiring  if  only 
it  is  not  done  at  home !  They  would  like  to  give  the 
"  feminine  touch  "  to  city  management,  be  a  sister 


VOTES  FOR  WOMEN  329 

to  the  bureau  of  taxes,  an  aunt  to  the  dock  or  the 
fire  departments,  a  mother-in-law  to  the  board  of 
aldermen. 

A  taste  for  politics  is  in  general  a  wholly  arti- 
ficial one  in  women.  A  few  years  ago  I  received 
visits,  at  short  intervals  apart,  from  three  women, 
all  friends  of  my  girlhood,  all  of  whom  had  married 
and  settled  In  suffrage  States.  I  eagerly  questioned 
them  regarding  the  part  which  voting  played  in 
their  lives.  The  first  replied  that  she  had  never 
voted  in  her  life  and  never  intended  to  do  so.  The 
second  confessed,  somewhat  apologetically,  to  having 
voted  "  only  once.*'  It  was  to  oblige  her  husband, 
she  explained,  who  wanted  a  friend  of  his  elected  to 
an  office  and  therefore  asked  her  to  help.  "  I 
didn't  know  the  man,"  she  said,  "  and  knew  nothing 
about  the  case,  but  of  course  I  couldn't  refuse  Fred. 
So  I  motored  about  town  all  day,  picking  up  men, 
arguing  with  them,  begging  them,  driving  them  to 
the  polls  and  so  on.  Never  again!  Once  was 
enough;  no  more  for  mine!  Politics  is  a  man's 
game;  I  take  no  interest  in  it  whatever."  The  third 
of  my  friends  gave  a  somewhat  different  answer. 
She  was  a  Quakeress,  and  takes  life  seriously. 
"  Yes,  I  always  vote  at  every  election,"  she  replied. 
"  I  consider  it  my  duty  to  do  so.  But  I  never  go 
to  the  polls  without  an  inward  feeling  of  indignation 
and  resentment.  I  realise  that  I  have  not  enough 
knowledge  of  the  matter  to  vote  intelligently.  I  say 
to  myself,  '  This  is  a  man's  job;  men  ought  to  attend 


330  FEMINISM 

to  it  themselves,  and  not  impose  it  upon  us.'  "     Here 
was  a  piece  of  first-hand  evidence. 

The  Quakeress  had  put  her  finger  upon  the  fatal 
weakness  in  the  voting  of  women.  Men,  rather 
than  measures,  are  the  subject-matter  of  elections. 
If  principles  and  policies  were  to  be  voted  upon 
women  might  read  up  on  civics  and  take  courses  in 
political  economy.  But  when  it  is  merely  a  ques- 
tion of  deciding  whether  Fritz  Schmidt  or  Tim. 
O'Brien  will  make  a  better  coroner  and  the  lady 
voter  does  not  know  these  gentlemen,  or  anything 
about  them,  her  decision  is  all  in  the  air.  Men  can 
inform  themselves  about  other  men  by  the  time- 
honoured  institution  of  —  hobnobbing.  But  women 
cannot  hobnob  with  candidates  in  saloons,  or  hotel 
lobbies,  or  on  street  corners.  They  cannot  hobnob 
with  men  at  all.  To  vote  intelligently  under  our 
system  and  in  our  times,  it  is  necessary  to  hobnob  — 
and  women  cannot  hobnob.  Their  men  folk  would 
object,  and  the  women  folk  of  the  hobnobbees  would 
object,  even  if  women  liked  hobnobbing  —  which 
they  don't.^ 

1  How  their  inability  to  hobnob  disqualifies  women  from  useful- 
ness as  voters  was  illustrated  by  an  incident  which  occurred  in 
Chicago,  as  announced  in  the  press  on  Feb.  25,  1915.  "Nine  hun- 
dred women  of  a  Chicago  district  voted  yesterday  for  a  coloured 
barber  to  be  alderman  of  their  district  without  wishing  or  mean- 
ing to  do  so."  The  coloured  barber  happened  to  bear  a  name 
which  resembled  the  name  of  another  man  whom  some  of  the 
women  had  voted  for  the  year  before.  Not  being  up  in  political 
gossip  —  through  not  hobnobbing  —  they  knew  nothing  of  the  sub- 
stitution. 


VOTES  FOR  WOMEN  331 

Even  if  custom  and  their  men's  approval  favoured 
hobnobbing,  women  are  by  temperament  disinclined 
for  it.  They  are  as  a  sex  not  gregarious  in  the  de- 
gree that  men  are  gregarious.  Women  never  quite 
understand  the  spirit  which  leads  men  to  congregate 
in  clubs,  saloons,  smoking-rooms  and  the  like,  for 
/  the  solid  comfort  they  seem  to  take  in  the  society 
of  other  men.  This  is  noticeable  on  shipboard, 
where,  within  a  few  hours  after  sailing,  the  man  will 
leave  his  wife  in  order  to  scrape  acquaintance  with 
half  the  men  in  the  cabin;  while  his  wife  reclines 
alone  in  her  steamer  chair,  never  dreaming  of  seek- 
ing the  society  of  other  women,  and  often  makes  the 
passage  without  exchanging  a  word  with  any  woman 
except  the  stewardess. 

After  the  schoolgirl  period  is  passed  women  have 
no  strong  craving  for  the  society  of  their  own  sex 
outside  their  family  circle.  The  woman's  club  Is 
quite  unlike  the  man's  club;  Its  members  assemble 
once  a  fortnight  or  so  to-  listen  to  the  reading  of  a 
"  paper."  But  the  "  paper  "  safely  read,  and  duly 
applauded,  they  Immediately  go  away  again,  unless 
forcibly  detained  by  afternoon  tea.  But  men  do  not 
have  to  be  drawn  to  their  clubs  by  "  papers,"  nor 
held  there  by  —  tea!  It  Is  true  that  women  enjoy 
pageants,  assemblages  and  functions  where  both 
sexes  are  on  parade,  but  they  do  not  seem  to  be  be- 
set, as  men  are,  by  the  perpetual  longing  to  hold 
sweet  converse  with  their  own  sex.  Women  tire 
one  another,  and,  when  weary,  instead  of  separating, 


332  FEMINISM 

as  men  do,  they  are  prone  to  stay  on  and  politely 
scrap,  indulging  In  their  well-known  pastime  of  ex- 
changing feline  amenities.  ("  How  charming  you 
are  looking.  I  hardly  knew  you!")  Society 
women  give  way  under  the  strain  of  associating  too 
much  with  other  women  and  become  nervously  im- 
paired. The  average  woman,  in  a  sense  not  true  of 
the  average  man,  needs  plenty  of  solitude,  quiet  and 
sleep  and  is  apt  to  suffer  —  as  children  do  —  men- 
tally, morally  and  physically  when  deprived  of  it. 

A  psychological  difference  in  the  sexes  may  ex- 
plain, in  part,  this  varying  degree  of  gregarious- 
ness.  When  a  group  of  men  engage  in  conversa- 
tion their  minds  may  be  observed  to  jog  along  side 
by  side,  hour  after  hour,  in  the  same  general  direc- 
tion on  the  same  general  topic.  But  women's 
minds  seem  to  move  rather  in  curves  and  circles  (the 
Euclidian  definition  of  a  curve,  one  remembers,  is 
a  line  which  changes  its  direction  at  every  point), 
following  lines  more  beautiful,  perhaps,  but  more 
irregular  and  more  disconcerting.  And  thus  it 
arises  that  when  one  woman's  mind  comes  in  contact 
with  other  women's  minds,  all  equally  erratic  in  their 
orbits,  there  results  a  certain  mutual  bewilderment. 
The  stralght-away  course  of  the  male  mind's  gait 
might  seem  to  be  less  fatiguing;  but  it  imposes  a 
strain  of  another  sort,  which  becomes  no  less  irksome 
before  long. 

.Woman's  endurance  is  spiritual  rather  than  men- 


VOTES  FOR  WOMEN  333 

tal.  Her  true  strength  Is  being  rather  than  doing 
—  or  thinking. 

Feminism  is  eager  to  alter  this,  her  fundamental 
characteristic,  and  to  enlist  her  activities  in  spheres 
in  which  she  is  less  at  home  and  less  efficient. 
Woman  suffrage  is  especially  insistent  that  she  ap- 
proach world  problems  from  the  outside  rather  than 
from  within.  Said  a  suffrage  lecturer,  "  Every  in- 
fluence for  good  which  a  mother  may  exert  over  her 
boy  is  far  outweighed  by  the  evil  influences  of  the 
street  he  must  pass  through." 

•Therefore  the  lecturer  gave  us  to  understand  that 
the  mother  need  not  hope  to  teach  little  Willie  to  let 
drink  alone,  but,  armed  with  the  vote,  she  is  to  at- 
tempt rather  to  regulate  saloons  I  Little  Willie  is 
not  to  be  taught  to  let  cards  and  dice  alone,  but  his 
mother  Is  to  vote  for  raids  on  gambling  houses! 
Little  Willie  is  not  to  be  taught  to  walk  unscathed 
through  streets  lined  with  prostitutes ;  but  his  mother 
Is  to  vote  down  the  social  evil,  segregating  its 
votaries,  fining  or  Imprisoning  them,  putting  them  in 
stockades  —  anything  to  get  them  out  of  little  Wil- 
lie's way! 

All  of  which  doctrine  blinds  Itself  to  the  eternal 
truth  that  the  place  for  little  Willie's  mother  to  be- 
gin her  reforms,  and  the  place  for  little  Willie's 
mother  to  continue  her  reforms,  is  in  the  heart  and 
soul  of  little  Willie  himself.  And  she  is  not  to 
forget  that  those  saloons  and  gambling  houses  and 


334  FEMINISM 

dens  of  infamy  are  there  because  other  women,  like 
her,  have  not  done  their  work  well. 

The  most  plausible  argument  for  woman  suffrage, 
to  an  age  which  has  taken  the  idea  of  democracy  as 
its  shibboleth,  is  that  democracy  is  not  complete  so 
long  as  all  citizens,  female  as  well  as  male,  do  not 
take  part  in  government.  ''  Government,"  so  runs 
the  argument,  "  should  rest  upon  the  will  of  ALL,  not 
upon  the  will  of  only  a  part  of  its  citizens."  And 
this  argument  continues  to  be  reiterated,  despite  the 
fact  that  government  never  does  rest  upon  the  whole 
but  always  upon  a  portion  (the  majority)  of  its  citi- 
zens^ wills. 

"  But  at  least  the  will  of  all  must  be  expressed, 
if  we  are  to  have  a  complete  dem.ocracy,"  it  is  pro- 
tested. Yes,  democracy  does  aim  to  ascertain  and 
conform  to  the  general  public  desires  in  the  action 
of  its  government.  But  that  desire  may  be  ex- 
pressed in  many  ways,  directly,  or  indirectly,  in  per- 
son or  by  representatives.  A  democracy  might  de- 
cree to  have  all  Its  citizens,  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren, march  to  the  polls  once  a  week  to  register  its 
will  on  every  trivial  matter  of  public  administration. 
Or  it  might  elect  to  pick  out  a  dozen  men  and  leave 
all  voting  and  all  administration  to  them.  In  either 
case  —  we  might  have  democracy.  Democracy  con- 
sists in  the  people  arranging  matters  to  suit  their  own 
best  convenience.  We  might  have  a  democracy 
where  only  men  voted,  or  one  In  which  only  women 
voted,  or  even  one  in  which  only  children  voted,  or 


VOTES  FOR  WOMEN  335 

one  which  embraced  all  three.  The  only  value  in 
democracy  is  that  it  is  a  device  for  allowing  the  peo- 
ple to  govern  themselves  by  whatever  machinery 
they  choose.^ 

The  "  will  of  the  people  "  is  not,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  a  composite  photograph  of  every  opinion  held 
by  each  and  every  individual  in  the  community,  to 
attain  which  it  would  not  do'  to  leave  out  a  single  line 
or  a  single  opinion.  It  is  merely  the  general  sense 
of  the  community,  which  can  be  expressed,  for  all 
practical  purposes,  in  any  way  that  happens  to  be 
convenient. 

Extending  the  ballot  to  more  persons  does  not 
therefore  necessarily  mean  more  democracy.  It  is 
true  that  if  some  classes  are  admitted,  while  others 
are  excluded,  there  might  be  danger  that  the  families 
included  might  tax  away  the  property,  and  vote  away 
the  liberty,  of  the  families  excluded,  unless  they  were 
carefully  watched.  Therefore  it  has  been  found  ad- 
visable to  admit  all  economic  classes,  by  allowing  the 
representation  of  all  families ;  and  the  balance  is  ob- 

2  Were  we  to  accept  suffragist  reasoning,  there  are  strong  grounds 
for  admitting  children  to  the  franchise.  Children  are  "people"; 
they  are  "individuals";  they  are  "human  beings";  they  are  good; 
they  are  moral;  they  would  lend  innocence  and  purity  to  politics. 
No  one  understands  their  needs  as  well  as  they  themselves.  They 
should  have  a  voice  in  the  making  of  the  laws  which  they  must 
obey.  Many  of  them  are  wage-earners;  they  should  be  free  to 
determine  their  own  conditions  of  wages  and  labour.  The  vote 
would  be  a  weapon  and  a  protection.  They  would  enjoy  greater 
respect  if  they  were  enfranchised.  The  broader  the  base  upon  which 
democracy  stands  the  firmer  it  is  —  and  so  forth. 


336  FEMINISM 

tained  when  all  families  are  admitted.  Political 
equilibrium  has  been  established  —  the  object  of 
democracy.  All  families  being  represented  through 
their  male  members,  you  might  go  on  and  admit  the 
women  as  well  as  the  men.  You  would  have  more 
voters  but  no  more  democracy.  Admitting  children 
would  bring  the  same  result;  more  voters  but  no 
more  democracy.  Multiplying  both  sides  of  an 
equation  does  not  alter  it. 

Woman  suffrage  propaganda,  flourishes  because  it 
IS  the  only  remedy  now  being  publicly  offered  as  a 
cure  for  women's  discontent.  Because  it  does  not 
comprehend  the  nature  of  her  disease  and  refuses 
to  admit  what  really  ails  her,  therefore  it  Is  a  quack 
remedy,  and  will  make  her  rather  worse  than  better 
if  she  adopt  it.  It  only  tends  to  Increase  the  force 
of  that  pressure  which  Is  driving  her  away  from 
the  home  and  which,  when  her  trouble  is  correctly 
diagnosed,  is  itself  the  underlying  cause  of  her  dis- 
tress. 

Nevertheless  we  who  are  opposed  to  votes  for 
women,  for  reasons  which  seem  to  us  wholly  ade- 
quate, have  most  of  us  taken  with  regret  the  position 
of  standing  in  the  way  of  the  gratification  of  their 
wishes  —  no  matter  how  childish  they  seem  to  us  — 
as  expressed  by  so  many  women.  There  is  no  dis- 
guising the  fact  that  it  is  our  opposition  alone,  not 
that  of  our  good-natured  American  men  folk,  which 
has  prevented  and  will  prevent  suffrage  from  being 
given  to  women.     Most  mothers  have  found  it  ex- 


VOTES  FOR  WOMEN  337 

pedient,  however,  when  a  child  cries  long  and 
earnestly  for  something  which,  after  all,  cannot  do 
it  a  great  deal  of  harm,  to  grant  its  request.  It 
seems  the  only  way,  for  the  moment  to  stop  its  cry- 
ing, and  the  only  way  for  it  to  learn  how  mistaken 
its  desires  were  and  how  worthless  their  object. 
Therefore  the  writer  would  feel  inclined  to  yield  to 
the  importunities  of  suffragists,  who  certainly  have 
wailed  piteously  and  kept  up  an  unconscionable 
racket,  for  some  sixty  years  or  more  —  a  long  cry- 
ing spell  for  a  child  of  any  age  —  were  it  not  for 
the  fact  that  to  grant  their  plea  means  to  work  an 
even  greater  injustice  upon  other  —  and  in  her  judg- 
ment —  wiser,  women  who  do  not  desire  to  vote. 

If,  however,  a  means  could  be  found  whereby  the 
women  who  are  clamouring  for  the  ballot  could  be 
granted  the  satisfaction  of  their  whim,  without  a  cor- 
responding burden  being  laid  through  moral  (and 
probably,  later,  legal)  compulsion  upon  their  unwill- 
ing sisters,  I  should  myself  be  glad  to  welcome  such 
an  arrangement. 

A  proposal  which  I  am  about  to  describe  seems  to 
me  to  meet  these  requirements.  I  have  submitted  it 
casually  to  three  men,  active  in  public  life,  all  law- 
yers. The  first  shied  hard  at  it;  the  other  two  re- 
ceived the  suggestion  cordiajly,  declaring  it  a  feasible 
and  practical  solution  of  a  much-vexed  question. 

The  proposal  is  as  follows:  Any  State  which 
shall  hereafter  extend  the  franchise  to  its  women 
shall  accompany  the  act  by  an  amendment  providing 


338  FEMINISM 

that  any  woman  who  chooses  may,  legally,  and  with- 
out moral  delinquency,  delegate  her  vote  to  some 
male  voter  of  her  free  choice  —  giving  him  two 
votes  instead  of  one.  For  example:  A  girl  upon 
reaching  voting  age  might  go  with  her  father  before 
a  judge  and  swear  out  an  affidavit  empowering  her 
father  to  vote  for  her.  His  appointment  might  be 
for  a  certain  period  of  years,  or  to  last  indefinitely, 
as  she  chose,  or  the  proxy  might  be  revokable  by  her 
at  any  time.  A  certificate  would  be  issued  to  her 
father  which  he  would  record  and  preserve  like  a 
deed  or  a  bond  or  any  other  legal  document.  This 
certificate  he  would  present  upon  registering  as  a 
voter  previous  to  an  election,  and  he  would  be  as- 
signed the  responsibility  for  casting  two  ballots  in- 
stead of  one. 

Fraud  might  occur,  as  it  does  in  every  other  legal 
transaction  yet  devised,  but,  as  in  other  cases,  it 
could  be  guarded  against.  Some  women  would  un- 
doubtedly sell  their  proxies;  but  some  women  would 
and  undoubtedly  do  sell  their  votes.  On  the  other 
hand,  their  notorious  admiration  for  fine  men  might 
lead  them  to  heap  proxies  upon  men  of  high  char- 
acter, thus  augmenting  the  power  of  the  latter  — 
which  would  be  all  to  the  good. 

A  woman's  vote  could  In  no  case  be  delegated  to 
another  woman,  nor  could  men  be  permitted  to 
transfer  their  vote  to  a  woman  under  any  circum- 
stances. Both  of  these  acts  would  tend  to  foster 
the  danger  of  "  petticoat  government,"  which  is  pre- 


VOTES  FOR  WOMEN  339 

cisely  the  order  of  things  which  women  who  object 
to  voting  would  wish  to  avoid,  and  to  escape  which 
would  be  the  main  inducement  which  would  lead 
many  women  to  renounce  their  vote  for  themselves. 
They  would  prefer,  as  most  women  prefer  and  most 
men  prefer,  to  live  under  a  masculine  government, 
because  they  have  greater  confidence  in  its  stability 
as  well  as  its  efficiency.  The  transference  of  one 
man's  vote  to  another  would  of  course  also  be 
prohibited.  There  could  be  no  general  exchange 
of  proxies.  Nothing  but  the  transfer  of  women's 
votes  to  men  would  be  permitted,  and  that  only  for 
the  purpose  of  relieving  women  of  a  burden  not  of 
their  own  choosing,  imposed  without  their  consent 
and,  in  the  case  of  the  majority,  against  their  will. 

Such  a  compromise  should  satisfy  both  parties. 
It  would  enable  the  woman  who  desires  to  vote  at 
first  hand  for  her  political  representative  to  do  so; 
while  it  would  permit  those  women  who  are  dif- 
ferently minded  to  remain  more  in  the  background 
and  to  choose  for  themselves,  not  a  political  repre- 
sentative at  first  hand,  but,  a  representative  at  sec- 
ond hand  to  choose  such  representatives.  In  one 
sense  all  women  would  vote,  some  by  electing  repre- 
sentatives, and  others  at  one  more  remove  by  elect- 
ing electors,  one  method  being  only  a  little  more 
indirect  and  a  little  farther  removed  from  the  po- 
litical arena  than  the  other,  and  therefore  by  so  much 
the  better  suited  to  the  tastes  and  capacities  and 
preferences  of  a  majority  of  women.     They  would 


340  FEMINISM 

vote  privately,  instead  of  publicly,  and  by  this  means 
could  choose  a  representative  intelligently  from 
among  the  men  they  knew  well,  not  unintelligently 
from  among  men  of  whom  they  knew  nothing. 

Such  a  measure  recommends  itself  as  being  a 
golden  mean  between  depriving  all  women  of  the 
ballot  or,  on  the  other  hand,  of  burdening  all  women 
with  the  ballot.  Personally  the  writer  stands  ready 
to  withdraw  opposition  to  Votes  for  Women  in  each 
case  where  the  imposition  of  the  franchise  upon 
women  shall  be  accompanied  by  an  amendment  as 
above  described  which  would  leave  women  free  — 
free  to  vote  in  person  and  equally  free  to  delegate 
their  vote  to  a  representative  voter  of  their  own 
choosing.  Injustice,  of  which  both  sides  now  com- 
plain, would  then  be  dispelled;  while  the  only  object 
of  holding  elections  at  all  —  namely,  to  ascertain 
the  drift  of  public  opinion  on  political  questions  — 
would  be  adequately  served. 

This  proposed  system  of  Proxy  or  Optional  Votes 
for  Women,  beside  being  politically  practicable,  has 
the  advantage  that  it  would  put  an  end  to  the  long 
and  bitterly  fought  factional  fight  among  women. 
Let  us  have  peace. 


CHAPTER  XII 

FEMINISM  AND   HER  MASTER 

A  Dialogue 

[Read  before  the  League  for  Political  Education  in 
New  York  in  March,  igi^l 
[The  chief  character  in  the  dialogue  is  a  giant 
named  Commercialism.  We  behold  him  look- 
ing through  a  magnifying  glass  into  the  roof  of  a 
cottage  in  which  a  woman  is  engaged  in  housework 
and  the  care  of  children.  After  watching  her  care- 
fully for  some  time,  the  giant  retires  to  his  palace, 
seats  himself  upon  his  throne,  summons  his  minion 
Necessity,  whom  he  thus  addresses  il 

commercialism 

I  have  again  been  watching  woman  at  work  in 
her  home.  As  I  told  you,  it  is  sheer  economic  waste 
for  her  to  be  spending  her  energies  upon  her  family. 
She  should  be  brought  out  of  the  home  and  put  com- 
mercially at  work.  Have  you  obeyed  my  orders 
and  summoned  her  ? 

necessity 

Sire,  the  woman  refuses  to  leave  her  family. 
341 


342  FEMINISM 

COMMERCIALISM 

Did  you  remind  her  that  she  is  a  slave  in  the 
home? 

NECESSITY 

I  did,  Sire.     But  she  said  that  being  a  slave  to 
her  family  was  no  worse  than  being  a  slave  to  you. 

COMMERCIALISM 

Did  you  offer  her  wages? 

NECESSITY 

I  did,  Sire,  but  she  said  that  she  had  a  sufficiency 
and  was  content. 

COMMERCIALISM 

She  must  be  got  out  of  the  home. 

NECESSITY 

I  dare  not  use  force,  Sire.     I  have  to  remember 
habeas  corpus  and  Magna  Charta,  etc. 

COMMERCIALISM 

But    offer    her    economic    independence,    extras, 
money  of  her  own,  etc. 

NECESSITY 

She  says  that  she  has  her  work  to  do  at  home. 

COMMERCIALISM 

Then  take  her  work  away  from  her.     Take  away 
her  spinning  and  weaving,  and  knitting  and  baking, 


FEMINISM  AND  HER  MASTER     343 

and  brewing  and  needlework.     They  shall  all  be 
commercialised.     That  makes  business  for  me. 

NECESSITY 

Sire,  she  says  that  even  then  she  still  has  to  pre- 
pare the  food  for  the  family. 

COMMERCIALISM 

Oh!  well  —  Use  some  ingenuity.  Put  a  deli- 
catessen store  on  the  corner  near  her  home. 

NECESSITY 

But,  Sire,  she  says  that  she  must  teach  her  chil- 
dren. 

COMMERCIALISM 

Build  schools  for  them  —  that's  easily  managed. 

NECESSITY 

But,  Sire,  she  says  that  she  must  train  the  little 
children  herself. 

COMMERCIALISM 

Start  some  kindergartens.  Take  all  the  children 
off  her  hands. 

NECESSITY 

But  the  baby,  Sire. 

COMMERCIALISM 

Day  nurseries,  creches,  that's  the  thing.  Get  her 
out  of  the  home.  I  must  have  more  workers,  more 
income,  more  wealth,  more  profits.     Get  her  out  of 


344  FEMINISM 

the  home.     Bring  the  women  Into  Industry.     Com- 
mercialise them. 

NECESSITY 

Sire,  they  are  coming  out  of  the  home  by  the  thou- 
sands. 

COMMERCIALISM 

Thousands !  I  want  a  million  —  I  must  have 
cheaper  labour. 

NECESSITY 

But,  Sire,  they  persist  In  preferring  homework 
with  Its  change  of  occupation.  Long  hours  at  one 
thing  are  hard  for  them. 

COMMERCIALISM 

Well,  If  It's  necessary  In  order  to  get  them,  make 
things  a  little  easier.  Get  some  laws  passed  short- 
ening their  hours  of  labour.  Give  them  seats  in 
shops,  some  rest  rooms,  and  things  like  that.  Do 
what  Is  necessary,  of  course;  only  get  them  out  of 
the  home.     That's  the  thing  —  get  them  out. 

NECESSITY 

They  are  coming.  Sire  —  look  at  them !  You 
asked  for  a  million;  there  are  two  millions, — -and 
still  they  come. 

COMMERCIALISM 

They  shall  come  faster.  Put  on  more  pressure. 
See  how  I  am  driving.  I  have  set  them  to  compet- 
ing with  men,  lowering  men's  wages  so  that  men  can- 


FEMINISM  AND  HER  MASTER     345 

not  support  families,  and  driving  men  altogether  out 
of  some  vocations.  I  am  spending  millions  in  ad- 
vertising in  order  to  stimulate  woman^s  wants,  to 
get  them  to  craving  more  and  more  things,  so  that 
they  will  come  out  and  earn  wages  in  order  to  get 
them.  I  am  doing  my  part;  you  do  yours.  Get 
them  out  of  the  home. 

NECESSITY 

Alas,  Sire,  I  do  my  best, —  but  many  are  still  re- 
luctant. Some  of  them  say  conditions  in  industry 
are  too  hard,  and  some  of  them  are  making  bold  to 
suggest  — 

COMMERCIALISM 

What? 

NECESSITY 

They  are  venturing  to  ask  for  something  which 
they  are  being  told  in  some  quarters  will  better  their 
conditions.     I  hardly  dare  mention  it  — 

COMMERCIALISM 
Speak  out!     What  is  it? 

NECESSITY 

Sire,  they  are  asking  for  the  vote. 

COMMERCIALISM 

Oh,  ho!  Is  that  all?  Why,  that's  all  right. 
Why  not  give  it  to  them.     What  harm  will  it  do  ? 


346  FEMINISM 

NECESSITY 

But,  Sire,  I  thought  — 

COMMERCIALISM 

You  thought  nothing.  You  can't  see  an  inch  be- 
yond your  nose.  Their  asking  for  the  vote  is  a  good 
sign.  It  shows  that  they  are  restless  and  discon- 
tented; don't  know  exactly  what  they  want,  and  are 
grasping  at  any  straw.  What  harm  can  they  do 
with  the  vote?  Haven't  the  men  had  it  for  a  cen- 
tury or  more?  And  has  it  ever  bothered  me  a  jot? 
Haven't  I  grown  to  my  present  gigantic  dimensions 
during  the  very  period  that  they  have  had  it? 
Haven't  I  made  the  workers  work  as  hard?  It  has 
never  put  a  pebble  in  my  way. 


NECESSITY 


True,  Sire. 


COMMERCIALISM 

Give  them  all  the  votes  they  want.  They  are 
good  playthings.  Voting  takes  very  little  time  away 
from  work,  and  anything  which  diverts  their  atten- 
tion from  the  home  is  to  the  good.  Get  them  to 
competing  with  men  in  politics  as  they  do  now  in 
industry.     It's  all  to  the  good. 

NECESSITY 

Sire,  you  have  the  vision  of  a  god.  I  had  not  seen 
that  far. 


FEMINISM  AND  HER  MASTER     347 

COMMERCIALISM 

I  have  the  vision  of  a  god  when  it  comes  to  seeing 
where  my  interests  He.     My  real  enemy  is  the  home 

—  those  Httle  fortresses  dotted  all  over  the  land; 
those  little  spots  where  competition  is  checked  and 
co-operation  reigns ;  where  the  family  snuggles  down 
in  safety,  and  men,  women  and  children  waste  on 
one  another  energies  which  I  might  turn  to  profit. 
The  home  must  be  shattered,  opened  up,  so  that  I 
can  get  the  meat  out  of  the  nut.     Chase  them  all  out 

—  men,  women,  and  children  too. 

NECESSITY 

Sire,  it  shall  be  done.  Eight  million  women  and 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  children  are  now  at  your 
disposal. 

COMMERCIALISM 

Good!  Getting  the  children  was  a  great  idea. 
In  cotton  and  many  Industries  their  little  fingers  are 
better"  than  adults'  and  they  are  cheaper. 

NECESSITY 

Sire,  when  the  older  children  are  at  work  there's 
no  one  left  In  the  homes  but  the  babies  and  the  old 
people.     Shall  I  let  them  remain? 

COMMERCIALISM 

No;  put  the  aged  In  Institutions, —  that's  the 
cheapest  way  to  dispose  of  them;  and  the  babies  in 


348  FEMINISM 

day-nurseries,  as  I  said.  Get  them  all  out.  An 
empty  home,  that  is  what  I  am  after.  I'll  get  there 
finally,  but  it's  slow  work,  and  your  incompetence  is 
maddening.  Here  are  millions  of  women  still  re- 
maining in  the  home.  Why  don't  you  get  hold  of 
them  somehow? 

NECESSITY 

I  am  helpless.  Sire.  Their  husbands  are  still  able 
to  support  them. 

COMMERCIALISM 

There  must  be  some  way  to  get  them  out ;  use  your 
imagination. 

NECESSITY 

I  have  done  my  best,  Sire. 

COMMERCIALISM 

Why  not  try  calling  them  names  ?  Tell  them  they 
are  parasites. 

NECESSITY 

I  have  tried  that. 

COMMERCIALISM 

Tell  them  the  home  is  a  harem.  Tell  them 
women  at  present  are  stunted;  they  are  in  a  state 
of  arrested  development.  Tell  them  that  marriage 
is  legalised  prostitution.     Tell  them  — 


FEMINISM  AND  HER  MASTER     349 

NECESSITY 

Sire,  you  forget, —  I  have  but  one  weapon. 
Necessity,  and  these  sheltered  women  are  beyond  the 
reach  of  that;  I  cannot  dislodge  them. 

COMMERCIALISM 

Then  I  shall  have  to  find  some  one  who  can.  The 
home  must  be  turned  inside  out;  everything  and 
everybody  in  it  shall  be  commercialised.  Art,  re- 
ligion, education,  love,  friendship,  the  family, — 
then  at  last  I  shall  be  monarch  of  the  globe. 

NECESSITY 

Sire,  I  can  do  no  more.  You  need  a  cleverer 
servant  than  I,  one  who  knows  how  to  delude  and 
cajole  women. 

COMMERCIALISM 

That's  it,  fool,  youVe  hit  it!  I  need  some  one 
with  enthusiasm,  resources, —  some  one  who  can 
coax  women  out  of  the  home  who  don't  need  to  go; 
make  them  think  the  home  is  a  prison  and  glory  lies 
outside  of  it.     Who  can  do  this  service  for  me? 

NECESSITY 

Sire,  I  know  the  very  person.  Her  name  is  Fem- 
inism ;  she  can  do  all  that  you  ask.  I  will  summon 
her. 

[Enter.  Feminism,  an  engaging^  up-to-date  per- 
son.^ 


350  FEMINISM 

Sire,  I  have  a  long  time  admired  you  and  your 
wonderful  achievements.  In  what  way  can  I  assist 
you? 

COMMERCIALISM 

I  need  your  help,  Feminism,  in  fulfilling  my  de- 
sign. The  object  of  life  Is  the  accumulation  of 
wealth  and  everything  should  bend  to  this  end;  but 
despite  my  utmost  efforts  large  amounts  of  human 
energy  are  still  running  to  waste  in  other  channels. 
The  most  extravagant  of  all  institutions  Is  the  home. 
In  this  practical  age  It  Is  an  anachronism.  Think 
of  hundreds  of  cook  stoves  where  one  communal 
stove  would  do.  Think  of  separate  firesides  when 
one  bonfire  of  colossal  range  might  answer  the  pur- 
pose. Think  of  single  nurseries  Instead  of  common 
dormitories.  All  this  Is  waste.  In  the  family  men, 
women  and  children  squander  time,  strength  and 
thought  on  one  another.  The  family  Is  outworn, 
cumbersome  —  an  obstacle  In  the  road  of  progress. 

FEMINISM 

I  am  of  the  same  opinion.  Sire,  not  so  much  be- 
cause It  Is  wasteful,  as  you  think,  but  because  it  Is 
narrowing;  but  we  agree  that  it  must  go. 

COMMERCIALISM 

Very  good!  We  are  agreed.  Now  to  work. 
Where  shall  we  begin  ? 


FEMINISM  AND  HER  MASTER     351 

FEMINISM 

The  place  to  begin  is  with  the  father, —  the  hus- 
band, once  rightly  called  the  house-band,  who  bands 
the  home  together.  He  must  be  dispensed  with. 
He  shall  no  longer  support  the  family. 

COMMERCIALISM 

I  have  already  arranged  for  that.  In  millions  of 
cases  he  is  no  longer  able  to  do  so. 

FEMINISM 

And  then  when  he  has  ceased  to  be  the  bread  win- 
ner he  is  no  longer  competent  to  represent  the  fam- 
ily politically.     Women  must  vote. 

COMMERCIALISM 

I  have  already  consented  to  that.  I  don't  mind. 
Get  on.  The  special  task  I  want  of  you  is  to  work 
on  the  minds  of  independent  women.  Sow  the  seeds 
of  discontent.  Talk  of  bonds  and  fetters  and  so  on. 
Get  them  out  of  the  home  for  anything  —  even 
higher  education  is  better  than  nothing.  It  defers 
marriage  at  least.     What  is  your  chief  doctrine? 

FEMINISM 

I  preach  equality  of  the  sexes. 


352  FEMINISM 

COMMERCIALISM 

Nothing  could  be  better, —  and  you  include  sex 
equality,  I  hope? 

FEMINISM 

Yes,  Sire,  but  that  goes  more  slowly.  Most 
women  are  conservative  on  that  subject.  They 
usually  embrace  Suffrage  first,  and  later  declare  for 
economic  independence.  They,  say  each  woman 
must  vote  and  support  herself,  but  there  they  stop. 


COMMERCIALISM 

Keep  it  up,  nevertheless,  you'll  bring  them  around. 
Free  love  won't  do  of  course;  our  people  won't 
stand  for  it  —  it  is  revolting.  All  you  have  to  do 
is  to  preach  —  independence,  independence,  inde- 
pendence,—and  keep  it  up.  You'll  get  them  in 
time. 

FEMINISM 

I  am  very  hopeful  too,  Sire.  I  use  the  same  set 
of  arguments  in  all  three  stages:  I  say  woman  is 
an  individual,  therefore  she  should  vote;  woman 
is  an  individual,  therefore  she  should  be  self-sup- 
porting; woman  is  an  individual,  therefore  she 
should  be  free  from  sex  domination.  In  this  way, 
when  a  woman  has  once  been  brought  to  accept 
suffrage  she  can  be  led  on  gently  from  step  to  step, 
you  understand. 


FEMINISM  AND  HER  MASTER     353 

COMMERCIALISM 

Perfectly.  Now,  one  more  matter.  No  decep- 
tion has  ever  been  successfully  foisted  upon  human- 
ity for  any  length  of  time  without  the  help  of  a 
fine-sounding  watchword.  Where  would  War  have 
been  if  It  had  not  been  for  its  watchwords  "  Self 
defence,"  "National  honour"  and  "Patriotism"? 
Where  .  would  Asceticism  have  been  without 
"  Purity  "  ?  Where  would  I,  Commercialism,  be 
without  my  watchword  "  Prosperity"?  I  presume 
you  have  a  watchword  too,  have  you  not? 

FEMINISM 

I  have  indeed,  Sire.  My  watchword  is  "  Free- 
dom."    I  do  all  my  work  in  its  name. 

COMMERCIALISM 

Good,  excellent!  Harp  continually  upon  free- 
dom. 

FEMINISM 

That  IS  my  practice,  Sire.  I  never  cease  calling 
upon  women  to  be  free;  I  never  cease  reminding 
them  of  their  enslavement  In  the  family,  of  the  tyr- 
anny of  fathers  and  husbands,  of  the  drudgery  of 
housework,  the  wearisomeness  of  children,  the 
monotony  of  home  life.  I  urge  them  to  submit  no 
longer  to  the  degradation  of  being  mere  females. 
I  tell  them  —  Sire,  I  tell  them  —  that  they  are  — 
human  beings! 


354  FEMINISM 

COMMERCIALISM 

Good  Idea !  And  I  presume  it  strikes  them  as 
novel? 

FEMINISM 

Always,  Sire.  The  idea  intoxicates  them.  It 
strikes  them  as  something  wonderful,  and  beautiful 
and  new. 

COMMERCIALISM 

It  is  a  great  idea ! 

FEMINISM 

But  of  course  I  make  it  plain  that  they  can't  be 
human  beings  in  the  home.  They  must  work  out- 
side, sell  their  labour,  commercialise  themselves  if 
they  wish  to  become  truly  human  beings. 

COMMERCIALISM 

That's  the  stuff !     I  see  you  know  your  business. 

FEMINISM 

I  never  lose  sight  of  my  main  object.  Sire,  which 
Is  to  wean  women  from  the  home.  I  assure  them 
that  all  their  services  to  the  family  can  be  better  per- 
formed by  experts.  I  urge  them  to  turn  all  their 
functions  over  to  paid  outsiders. 

COMMERCIALISM 

Admirable!  That  makes  more  openings  for 
women  and  more  business  for  me.     Keep  it  up  I 


FEMINISM  AND  HER  MASTER     355 

FEMINISM 

I  tell  them  to  hire  specialists  to  minister  to  every 
want.  Servants  for  housework,  teachers  for  their 
children,  seamstresses  for  home  sewing,  entertain- 
ers to  amuse  the  family.  I  know  one  woman  who 
hires  a  professional  grandmother  to  come  to  see 
her  children  every  day  and  bring  them  cookies.  I 
tell  them  that  this  is  the  age  of  specialists,  and  that 
home  making  too  should  be  turned  over  to  hired 
experts.  This  will  set  the  wife  and  mother  free  to 
become  a  specialist  in  something  herself,  and  that 
will  take  her  out. 

COMMERCIALISM 

Good!  But  what  do  you  do  with  the  incurably 
domestic  women  who  stick  in  the  home  like  maggots 
in  a  cheese? 

FEMINISM 

T9  that  sort  of  women.  Sire,  I  talk  municipal 
housekeeping.  She  likes  that.  I  tell  her  the  city 
is  just  a  part  of  her  home.  I  begin  with  street 
cleaning  and  milk.  I  tell  her  that  she  Is  directly 
concerned  with  the  milk  supply,  because  her  baby 
drinks  milk.  Later  on  I  shall  tell  her  that  she  Is 
directly  concerned  with  the  tobacco  supply,  because 
her  husband  smokes  tobacco,  and  with  the  coal  sup- 
ply, because  the  family  burns  coal.  Thus  I  plan  to 
lead  her  gently  on.  By  the  same  token  I  shall  one 
day  suggest  that  she  ought  to   Inspect  slaughter- 


356  FEMINISM 

houses,  and  canneries,  and  ash  dumps,  and  that  it 
IS  her  duty  to  supervise  commerce  and  agriculture, 
and  arbitrate  labour  disputes,  preside  over  courts, 
and  concern  herself  with  regulating  the  entire  in- 
dustrial, financial  and  judicial  systems  of  the  coun- 
try. I  shall  show  her  conclusively  that  there  is  no 
place  to  stop,  that  everything  touches  the  home. 
But  of  course  that  comes  later :  for  the  present  I  be- 
gin with  milk,  and  street  cleaning;  they  sound  so 
harmless,  and  so  nearby. 

COMMERCIALISM 

Capital !     That's  the  way  to  work  it. 

FEMINISM 

But  I  may  tell  you  confidentially,  Sire,  a  short  time 
ago  I  had  a  great  scare. 

COMMERCIALISM 

How  so? 

FEMINISM 

You  see,  this  drawing  mothers  out  of  the  home 
as  we  are  doing,  works  havoc  sometimes  in  the  fam- 
ily. People  are  beginning  to  say  that  the  degenera- 
tion of  the  race  is  largely  due  to  it,  and  are  trac- 
ing the  increase  in  feeble-mindedness,  insanity,  pros- 
titution, vice,  and  corruption,  to  the  lack  of  home 
training  and  neglect  of  children.  If  this  idea  grows 
we  shall  have  trouble. 


FEMINISM  AND  HER  MASTER     357 

COMMERCIALISM 

How  did  you  meet  the  situation  ? 

FEMINISM 

I  had  an  ingenious  idea.  I  announced  that  it  is 
precisely  because  of  the  evils  in  society  that  women 
are  needed  In  politics  and  legislatures,  etc. 

COMMERCIALISM 

Did  they  swallow  that? 

FEMINISM 

Lapped  it  up  like  water.  By  that  means  I  am 
coaxing  hundreds  of  women  out  of  the  home  on  the 
plea  of  reforming  the  world,  who  would  not  leave  It 
for  any  other  purpose. 

COMMERCIALISM 

That  comes  near  to  being  genius ! 

FEMINISM 

Thank  you,  Sire!  I  think,  too,  that  the  idea 
has  a  great  future.  It's  this  way.  When  all  work- 
ing class  women  shall  have  left  home  to  earn  a  liv- 
ing, then  (as  their  families  become  demoralised  and 
society  begins  to  suffer),  the  leisure  class  women 
will  have  to  go  too  in  order  to  reform  the  evils 
which  the  other  women's  leaving  home  has  caused. 
In  this  way  I  am  smoking  out  some  of  the  most 
cantankerously  domestic  women  who  ever  darned 


358  FEMINISM 

socks.  Take  Mrs.  John  Martin,  e.g.,  even  she  has 
to  leave  the  home  once  a  year  or  so  now  to  try  to 
undo  some  of  the  harm  which  other  women's  not 
staying  at  home  has  brought  about.  Do  you  get  the 
idea? 

COMMERCIALISM 

Perfectly.  But  now  tell  me,  what  is  your  object 
in  all  this?  Myself  I  understand;  I  want  to  empty 
the  home  for  my  own  purposes  —  to  increase  pro- 
duction. The  more  people  there  are  at  work  the 
larger  my  returns.  That's  simple.  But  I  don't  un- 
derstand exactly  what  you  are  after. 

FEMINISM 
[confidentially^ 

I  will  tell  you.  My  object  is  to  get  woman  to 
revenge  herself  on  man  for  his  age  long  domina- 
tion. I  want  to  teach  her  how  to  do  without  him, 
and  put  him  out  of  business.  When  he  is  no  longer 
useful,  he  will  have  no  more  power.  Then  woman 
can  assert  her  supremacy  and  take  the  reins  of  gov- 
ernment in  her  own  hands.  I  want  to  show  her 
how  to  put  man  down  where  he  belongs, —  reduce 
him  to  subservience.  I  want  to  enthrone  woman  — 
I  want  to  feminise  the  world ! 

COMMERCIALISM 

Humph !  I  don't  follow  you  there.  My  aim  is 
to   commercialise   the  world.     I   don't  propose   to 


FEMINISM  AND  HER  MASTER     359 

hand  It  over  to  you.  Man  Is  a  good  friend  of  mine; 
he  has  made  me  what  I  am.  I  should  hate  to  see 
him  go  under.  It  was  with  his  consent  that  I  have 
been  calling  women  out  of  the  home.  But  I  don't 
think  he  foresaw  that  anything  of  this  kind  was 
likely  to  happen.  I  don't  believe  he  thought  that 
you  were  likely  to  come  along;  and  what's  more,  I 
think  when  he  really  finds  out  what  you  are  up  to  he 
will  take  measures  to  put  a  stop  to  it. 

FEMINISM 

l^with  blazing  eyes'] 

A  stop  to  it!  Let  him  try,  let  him  try!  That 
will  mean  a  declaration  of  war,  sex  war!  Very 
well;  I  am  gathering  my  forces  for  that  now.  Let 
men  attempt  to  oppose  us.  Let  them  come  on, — 
we  shall  be  ready  for  them. 

[Feminism  clenches  her  little  fist,  and  shakes  it 
fiercely  into  empty  space,  A  sound  is  heard 
without;  steps  approach.  Feminism  looks  up 
expectant  and  defiant.  Enter  Man.  And 
with  the  entrance  of  Man  our  curtain  falls.] 


THE   END 


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